In a Burning Heart
by Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
Summary: With a new crime wave sweeping across China, it is up to Po and the Furious Five to return peace to the land, however, could the return of a foe of legend mark the end for them all? Yet, perhaps they are not alone in their endeavour? And is this new villain all that they seem? A tale of action and adventure, with some Ti/Po thrown in for good measure!
1. Prologue

**Author note: Good day everyone! So, first of all, thanks for giving this insane rambling a look, much appreciated. Second, I suppose I should get the arbitrary "this is my first fanfic" out of the way, so… erm… this is my first story. I think that covers everything for now, so without further trepidation, I give to you, my story!**

 **Disclaimer: I own none of the characters featured in this tale, even the ones I came up with, largely due to the fact they're all created from 80's action movie clichés…**

In a Burning Heart: Chapter I, Prologue

A legend tells that long ago, in the time before ancient China, a dragon of red and gold scales possessed such immense power that after eons of migrating through the heavens it created a place to call its own, a haven in which it could dwell, a place of skyward peaks and lush valleys, of sweeping plains and churning seas and thus the dragon created the earth. It is said that after the creation, the dragon looked upon it and saw the lands of what would later come to be known as China, its nebulous eyes feasting upon their remarkable beauty and stomach upon their bountiful resources the great dragon chose to settle within these lands.

However, as centuries passed the dragon became uninterested, it's spirit dulled by time without companionship and so the dragon set to work creating inhabitants for the magnificent world which lay before it. Beautiful flying creatures captivated it with their amazing displays of aeronautical stunts, larger animals impressed the dragon with great feats of strength and the smaller animals treated the dragon to great displays of acrobatics and dancing. As time passed, the creatures grew a great reverence for the great dragon, craftsmen worked tirelessly on huge temples in the dragon's honour, from the noble to the knave all bowed before the creator and so it was dictated that the dragon would be crowned the first true Emperor of China. Celebrations were held across the land to herald the coming of a new great era, animals of all kinds rejoiced.

Yet, as with any great thing, it did not last forever, as yet more time passed the dragon became increasingly infirm, it's once lush lands came under siege from bandits, raiders and fiends. Towns and cities across the land soon began to rally into armed militias to counter the impending threats, with an incredible effect pushing much of the criminals and war bands from China. The lesson which should have been learned from this great display was that, when animal stood shoulder to shoulder, there was no threat which could possibly harm the might of China. Still, this was not to be, each town saw it as an opportunity to raise its own standing within the empire and gain favour with the dragon. Squabbles and light skirmishes between towns broke out across the land and, although lacking the ferocity of the bandit raids, lead to large quantities of damage to homesteads and crops resulting in a widespread famine throughout the nation. When seeing his creations turn against another in such a manner the dragon was at a loss, not wishing to create an organised army in fears of leading to more unrest, the dragon called upon his five greatest warriors from his personal retinue of tiger guard. To the five he bestowed a vast amount of his power giving them speed and strength to rival any creature but moreover the ability to harness the very breath of the dragon itself within their paws. Armed with their new powers of the inferno, the five warriors set off to defend the people of China from both external threats and from themselves. Villagers bowed to these new soldiers of the emperor, some in awe and others in fear either enthralled or terrified by their mastery of kung Fu, self and the very universal elements which they controlled and they were heralded as the greatest warriors to ever grace China, peace was once again restored to the land.

Nevertheless, with the dragon nearing the end of its lifespan, there was a sudden scramble for power as to whom would be appointed as the next ruler of China, and with many remaining loyal to the current emperor it seemed that a civil war was inevitable. The dragon was once again unsure of how to proceed; it had never envisioned its creations to have such adverse reactions with one another. Was it justified to go to war to preserve peace? Thankfully though the dragon would need never know the answer to this question, upon the rise of a new contender to the throne the dragon instantly backed down, feeling it was to near the end of its lifespan to justify the needless expenditure of the lives of its creations. Somewhat ironically, the eventual victor of said war, the animal who would become the new emperor quickly faded from the memories of those present and there is little information of him or his legacy.

Without regard to this, the most important part of the legend takes place when the dragon was upon its deathbed and summoned the leader of the tigers and explained to her that a vision had come to it in its slumber. The new emperor would rule China, the land would be fooled by promises of prosperity anew and once again fall into disarray. However, in this vision, far, far in the future the dragon saw that one day a warrior would rise, greater and more powerful than any other, and reclaim the powers of the dragon breath to restore China to its former glory, yet worryingly, the dragon also saw that there was another, a warrior in black who could end the lines of the dragon breath altogether and bring a never ending darkness to China. Other fragmented points of information filled his thoughts also; a city on fire, a flotilla of flame spitting weapons, a great threat from the west and some other incoherent ramblings about a grinning tortoise. The dragon also explained his methods for testing this prophesised ultimate warrior, he had devised several tasks, each varying wildly in nature at each of the seven dragon temples spread throughout China, he also said that only those who possessed the dragons power would be able to access the tasks preventing those who were not of the chosen five to enter them. Shaken and unsure but never questioning the tiger left on the order of the emperor- whom wished to prevent further bloodshed- pledging to lead the others away to preserve their powers and to best allow the vision to come to fruition, leaving the dragon- and the rest of China- to its fate.

 **Author note 2: This was really more of a short intro chapter and didn't really have much relevance to the plot… yet. But, I digress, the first ever chapter of my first ever story, woo! In future I'll be trying to condense all of my insane ramblings to the bottom sections here to allow you to just get fired into the story. So, feel free to review, favourite, like, comment, subscribe, share to twitter, post on the subreddit, donate to my , back me on Kickstarter, inform your local newspaper or y'know just be sensible and focus on the first two things!**

 **See ya'll next chapter! ;)**


	2. Two Wongs

**Author note: I'm usually going to be updating this once a month, for now at least, but being that the first chapter was so pitiful here's the second one early! Don't say I'm not good to you!**

In a Burning Heart: Chapter II, Two Wongs…

Wuxi City was a relatively small settlement when compared to Gongmen City, but it held no less spectacle when placed in comparison. The city's layout gave it an almost conical shape, with many of the smaller residential houses packed closely within the flatlands, a slight raise in altitude gave way to much of the city's industry and manufactories, higher above this was the larger housing for wealthier residents as well as several entertainment districts, which housed fine restaurants and expensive haberdasheries and finally, the crowning jewel which sat atop Wuxi City, the mayoral palace. It truly was a building worthy of being referred to as a palace, with elegant sweeping architecture and lavish detail however, beneath its intricate detail the building could also function as a rather effective fortress with high walls and maze like corridors to repel even the most zealous of attackers. Residing in the north of China, it was almost always covered in a light blanket of fresh snow which sparkled magnificently during the daylight hours, giving the impression that the whole city was somehow inlaid with millions of tiny diamonds. In the evening, the lighting of lanterns and the reflection of their light from the snow, lit the city in a beautiful orange haze, the burning flame in the middle of the waxy, white fields surrounding it; a true candle of the north. This evening the however, the city has shone with even more beauty, as many lanterns and decorations had been placed upon the streets am walkways, filling them with swirling patterns of whites, reds and golds, all marring together with the ethereal orange glow. The extra effort had been expended in aid of the mayor's daughter who was to be married upon the morrow, heralding a time of great feasts and celebrations for all. Yet still, even with the thick atmosphere of excitement and festivity hanging in the air, there was also a slight sense of trepidation amongst the populace, for Wuxi City was not only famed for being a beauty of the north, but also a vital pillar in the defence of China. This was mainly due to the rule of the current mayor, whom despised crime and corruption of any level and declared so openly, gaining him the ire of many of his countrymen. He went far in his quest for justice, taking the fight directly to any crime lord which dared enter his territories and any criminals he crossed were dealt with by an iron fist, often wielded by the Wuxi Guard whom were all handpicked and trained by the mayor himself and often revered by many other settlement in China as the very apex of what a town guard should be.

The mayor himself was by no means paranoid, the threats he feared were, in actuality, very real indeed, therefore he often avoided public appearances where possible, choosing to spend much his time within the fortified mayoral palace. His daughter's wedding however led to the rare exception to which he would have to open his fortress to the public. As a precaution he had doubled the guards stationed on the cities' walls. However, in truth, a large scale attack was not what was worrying him, the physical location of the city itself provided excellent defence against any invading army as the would have to cross open fields of snow before coming anywhere close to the city walls, and during such a traversal could be easily spotted by any guards patrolling an elevated position, another detail which showed the intelligent conical design of the city. In the end the mayor was actually terrified by the prospect of a small number of covert assassins infiltrating the populous which, he postulated, would be simple as Wuxi City was host to a vast number of traders and visiting tradesmen and couriers were nothing out of the ordinary for the locals. It would be easy for an assailant to gain entry by such a means. In fear of such an attack the mayor had sought the help of the renowned Grandmaster Shifu, whom, after hearing of the mayor's plight had dispatched China's greatest heroes; the Furious Five and even the Dragon warrior himself.

News of Po's great victories, both against Tai Lung in the Valley of Peace and against Lord Shen in Gongmen City, had spread far across China with many additions to the tales. Already implausible events had been further romanticised, with tales of Po fighting of an army of wolves while his hands were bound, using his powers to bring the masters Ox and Croc back to life and finally, perhaps most outlandishly of all, many believed he was sent from the cosmos and arrived in the courtyard of the Jade Palace on burning wings of fire to become crowned at the next dragon warrior and restore balance to Kung Fu by defeating the evil Tai Lung. To his credit, Po laughed off many of these rumours, insisting he was as normal a creature as anyone, and the source of his great proficiency in Kung Fu was the fruition of his commitment and self-belief. However, he had to admit, the other accounts and tales did make for better conversations.

After their arrival at the Wuxi Mayoral Palace the Furious Five set about scrutinising the fortresses defences much to the dismay of the mayor. Each of the five seized an area of the palace to secure: Master Crane took it upon himself to scan the perimeter from the skies, identifying any routes of access from an aerial point of view, Master Monkey set about patrolling the walls in hopes of finding any possible points at which an attacker would be able to scale it and removing such an option, Master Tigress scaled the rooftops nearby the palace, searching for vantage points an aggressor would use to mount a ranged attack or that could be used to gain access to the compound, Master Viper saw to it that any subterranean routes of attack were sealed or guarded, leaving a handful of guards with the unfortunate task of patrolling the sewers for threats, and finally Master Mantis gave himself the gargantuan task of sweeping the whole vicinity of the palace walls, courtyards and roofs for any small gaps through which a tiny assailant, like himself, would be able to fit through. Po, shall we say lacking in the same level of subterfuge as the rest of the Five, still managed to play a part by putting forward the suggestion that all fireworks and chairs should be moved a safe distance from the palace walls so as to avoid a method of entry which, allegedly, he himself had tested, gaining some rather odd looks from several of the guards present. After what could be considered a relatively successful search, revealing little to no points of entry which could be utilised by attackers, the Five were happy to report that the impenetrable Wuxi Mayoral Palace was just that; impenetrable. The mayor was pleased to hear this, but still insisted on doubling the guards for his daughter's wedding, choosing to err on the side of caution even with the combined might of the Furious Five and Dragon Warrior present. A perfectly understandable decision giving the current climate, and so, with assertions that the palace was indeed secure for the time being, Po and the Five headed to their designated living quarters which were in the upper floor of the palace itself, and settled down for the evening.

Tigress couldn't sleep. The room she had been given, although windowless, was absolutely gorgeous, the bed was by far the best she had ever encountered but perhaps the opulence was part of the problem, she being used to only the jail like housing in the orphanage and the minimalist dwellings of the Jade Palace. Although, the more she dwelt on it the more unlikely it seemed that it was the source of her insomnia, and she pondered on another reason. Tigress was a fighter of renowned skill and aptitude and her expertise was known throughout China, however despite her mastery of Kung Fu she still liked to identify who or what she was fighting against, all this preparation for a battle with an invisible foe was making her uneasy, she could hit for China, but she liked to know what she was hitting. Unamused by her own thoughts Tigress had become fatigued by her inaction and chose to rise from her bed, hoping that an evening stroll would clear her mind, she slipped out into the corridor and closed her door without making a sound. The hallway was clear as guards were only stationed on the exterior and lower floors of the palace so as to give those living within some privacy. Tigress moved silently through the passageway, listening intently to the sleeping sounds of her comrades, a light hiss from Vipers' room and a light breathing from Monkey's but nothing could compare to Po's thunderous snoring; she paused outside his door for a moment. As the Dragon Warrior, Po had been given one of the largest of the guest rooms complete with its own balcony providing views across the whole city. Allegedly, Wuxi City looked beautiful at night, gaining it recognition across China; Tigress could not pass up the opportunity to experience such a beautiful sight and thus slowly pushed open the door to Po's room. The chamber was indeed grander than hers however it was nothing compared to the splendour of the view which it offered. Glancing quickly to ensure that Po was fast asleep she hurriedly snuck across the room, regularly casting glances at the sleeping panda. It was true, at first that she had harboured a feeling towards him that she would never describe as, but was nonetheless jealousy. Jealous of his appointment as dragon warrior and, to a certain extent, the reception of her master's attentions. However, she had to admit that the air of genuine humbleness that he conducted himself with had given her reason to tolerate his presence. And further, his general enthusiasm for all things Kung Fu had given her reason to accept him and following the events in Gongmen and hearing what he had been through she now had reason to respect him and knew that he could be relied upon to watch her back, should she require it. As much as she hated to admit it, she often found herself feeling at her safest and most secure when she was by his side; he just seemed to have that effect on people. Caught up in her thoughts she now surprisingly found herself standing in the doorframe. From her vantage point she could see that the stories of Wuxi at night were no invention, the city itself gave off a beautiful orange glow, made only more captivating by the glistening snow on the roofs and by the amber reflections in the current light snowfall, which was currently drifting through the sky like powdered sugar. Beyond the city, the vista gave way to beautiful views of the snow-capped mountains reflecting the bright light from the moon which hung low in the sky and was offset by legions of glowing stars, each burning brightly in the sky illuminating the heavens. Captivated by the view, Tigress leant against the doorframe, soaking in the stunning scene.

Unbeknownst to Tigress however, leaning on the frame had made the slightest of creaks, a sound which would have previously fallen upon deaf ears, but with Po's recent training he was instantly roused from his slumber. Well, perhaps 'instantly' wasn't the correct word. Po slowly came to consciousness, chasing the remains of a dream he was having about noodles, Kung Fu and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on from his mind and was vaguely aware of the presence of another in his quarters. Still largely asleep, he couldn't make out the silhouette standing in the doorway to his balcony therefore unquestionably identified the figure as an assailant. Sneaking out of bed as sneakily as his sleep deprived brain would allow he began creeping across the room towards the mysterious personage.

Observing the cityscape with great intent and concentration, Tigress almost didn't hear someone sleeping up on her… Almost. A moment of concern crossed her mind as she could no longer hear Po's snoring from behind her but she quickly pushed it down and focused on the matter at hand. She stayed stationary, allowing her alleged attacker to come closer at which point she swiftly turned on the spot using her momentum to propel her forward catching whoever was sneaking up on her off guard and quickly subduing them without making a sound, mindful of the possibility that the attacker may not be alone she quickly clamped her hand over their mouth preventing them from calling for help. Having restrained her enemy she gave her eyes a moment to focus to the darkened room and then she realised her mistake. Po's eyes were wide and she could almost see the workings of his mind trying to comprehend the situation within them, she quickly released her grip of him and regained her composure instantly, rising and brushing off her tunic of any dust it had collected from the floor. Letting out an awkward cough she stood with her back to him allowing him to get up from the floor and recover some of his dignity; fixing her gaze back to the view, not wanting to focus upon the events which had just transpired. Po seeming to reciprocate this feeling and, after standing and patting himself down he stood at her side and said quietly, "Wow, it's a beautiful view isn't it?"

"Yes I was just thinking to myself earlier that the tales were not wrong, it truly is magnificent." She responded not taking her eyes off of the orange tinged buildings beneath them.

What Po said next, however, seemed to halt the very rotation of the axis of the world itself, people hurrying by on the streets below seemed to halt in motion, the snow falling gently froze in place in mid-air, even the very base chemical reactions causing the stars to shine and candles to produce light seemed to cease to function casting the world momentarily into a state of darkness.

"It's kind of romantic isn't it?"

Po had regretted saying it almost before it had exited his mouth, the phrase would have seemed innocent enough to any other but with Tigress involved it was sure to gain him an instant and brutal beating. He closed his eyes, prepared for the pile-driver-esque punch that was surely heading his way at that very moment. He waited, face scrunched in a vain attempt to minimise the damage. When the hit never came, he tentatively opened one eye, noticing that Tigress was still standing not paying him much attention, and then to his absolute astonishment she said, "I suppose you could say that, yes." adding in a small chuckle at the end. Tigress sure that her unusual behaviour at this point was due largely in part of her sleep deprived brain running amok sat down within the doorframe, taking the weight from her weary legs. Po in turn, still in limbo about his possible clobbering, moved cautiously to take a seat beside her and let out a small sigh of relief when she didn't seem to mind.

The pair sat for what seemed like an eternity, but was in actuality only a short period, neither daring to say a word and drinking in the glorious light of the moon, stars and candles from below. It was only now, after feeling the warmth emanating from Po that she felt the bite of the cold night air, moving closer to him to attempt to soak up some more of his rapidly escaping heat. Somehow, sitting in a doorframe with an overweight panda by her side and an active city in front of her she was more comfortable than in her incredibly luxurious room and finally gave over to the final embrace of slumber. Po was often impressed by her ability to sleep completely upright, but hadn't failed to notice her moving closer to him throughout the evening, so after summing up all of his courage he nervously moved himself in close to her, an action which the awake Tigress would have never stood for but one which the sleeping one seemed thankful for as she buried her head into his shoulder and upon feeling how cold she had become, Po summoned one last act of valour as he reached his arm over her shoulder, using his large arms and fur to help her conserve as much heat as possible. He sat for a while just enjoying the moment; listening to her soft breathing, feeling her warm breath gently ruffling through his fur, mixing with the glacial night winds which cascaded upon the city and gazing upon the beautiful view, both the one in front of him and the one which he held in his arms, before he too slid into a peaceful and dreamless sleep.

On a nearby rooftop, a clouded leopardess lowered the eyepiece she had being viewing the whole disgustingly affectionate scene through, trying in desperation not to gag. Satisfied that both panda and tiger were now sound asleep she gave the all clear signal for her partner by making a few quick gestures with her hand. Raising the eyepiece once more, she focused her attentions to the site where her companion had left the cart, knowing that scanning for any palace guards would be unnecessary as they could be swift dealt with unlike the members of the Furious Five she had previously been eyeing so tentatively. The cart was propped against the walls of the mayoral palace, perhaps not in the most optimum of locations; however it would suffice and possibly negate any chance of the guards discovering the true cargo of the cart, simply marked with the symbols of a local pottery merchant. Caught up in her observations she failed to notice her accomplice moving up to the rooftop behind her at first, however after the two were reunited it became apparent that the planning phase of their caper had been completed without a hitch, and could only hope that the rest of their plan went as smoothly. With that final thought in their head, the two Wong sisters smiled simultaneously, looking toward the mayoral palace, revelling in the thoughts of the coming pandemonium before they both retired for the evening.

 **Author note reloaded: Well how did you all enjoy that? I really feel that the line "Upon the morrow" is criminally underused, next time you say you're doing something in the preceding day be sure to use it, it gives even the most mundane situation some gravitas, for example "I'm going for a haircut upon the morrow!" Also, I'm sure you will be wondering about the title of this chapter, but don't panic I'm working it up to a hilarious punchline which I find ceaselessly amusing, although that may be the sleep deprivation or alcohol talking. As with last time feel free to launch some cold, unfiltered hatred at me through dropping a review or maybe even show some mercy and grace me with a favourite. Whatever, you decide to do know that I fully support your decision, unless it's to get a tattoo on your forehead or something silly like that. Don't do that!**

 **And with that comment I feel I've lost some people, but for the rest of you, be seeing you next chapter! ;)**


	3. Don't make a Right

**Author note: Remember when I said that this would be out a month after the last one, yeah, I lied. What I meant to say was there should be an update once a month at the latest; probably about 2 weeks at the earliest. I hope you can all forgive me for such a betrayal of your trust! But hey another chapter, right?**

In a Burning Heart: Chapter III, …Don't Make a Right

Nuo Wong had risen early that day, roused partially by the busy streets below, filled with those who were preparing for the Mayor's offspring's big day and the boost in commerce it would bring but she had also woken for other reasons. Looking across the room she spotted her bow and arrows of various shapes, sizes and utilizations, some barbed, others tipped with poisons or sedatives, a bundle of with hooks and lengths of rope attached for scaling the sides of buildings, all could be required at some point that day, however she prayed she would not have to, for one, the toxins which they had been coated in were expensive. She proceeded to inspect each and every piece of her equipment, knowing that any small fault could put their mission in dire jeopardy; however her task of calming monotony was rudely interrupted by her sisters relentless snoring. Nuo often liked to consider the pair as equals in all aspects, for they were twins after all, but it was times like this, times where she would be mid inspection only to look over and see her dear sister asleep, snoring loudly and drooling into her pillow, when she believed that she was just possibly that little bit more intelligent than her sibling. Not that it was in any way to her sister's detriment, for Niu was certainly the stronger of the two, both in will and physical prowess.

After completing her checks far ahead of schedule, Nuo suddenly found herself at a loss, as the realisation dawned that the action would not be taking place until later that evening during the wedding ceremony. In this rare moment of downtime she decided to meditate upon the coming event hoping that it would clear her mind and bring her focus solely to the plan. Yet she couldn't seem to get it to the forefront of her thoughts; as her borderline obsession with checking equipment would suggest she harboured an extreme eye for even the smallest details, which in turn was leading her thoughts back to the pair's initial meeting with their enigmatic benefactor.

 **2 months earlier**

Nuo paced the length of the small private booth for what seemed like the thousandth time that hour. The establishment itself, an undefined location regarded as an elegant hybrid of part bar, part stolen goods exchange, was located within a small town nestled on the coast which could have easily been mistaken for a quite fishing village, were it not for the rows of shadowy warehouses littering the dock front, each complete with its own troupe of equally menacing looking gang members. The port itself had no official name but appeared to suffer little from it; it was famously said that this was the only place in China where you could see the five most infamous smuggling ships moored at once, however Nuo had been disappointed as there had only been three of the five present this morning. There was no greater area in China to lose a bounty or fence some stolen goods, it seemed the perfect habitat for killers for hire but she was malcontent, she liked to think that they were better than this. Her incessant pacing was getting her nowhere so she slumped defeated into a chair parallel to her sister, letting out a loud sigh as she did so. To prove her display had fallen upon deaf ears and blind eyes her sister, Niu, continued vivaciously eating her… In truth, Nuo wasn't entirely sure what her sister was eating but seemed to be enjoying it nonetheless, paying no mind to her sibling seated opposite. Her seating had been a strategic move also, as to avoid a particular aspect of Niu's slightly disagreeable eating habits, one which she had colloquially named "the splash zone." Upon noticing her sigh had went unheard she cleared her throat with a bit of a larger emphasis than wasn't perhaps entirely necessary and right after hearing it, Niu's head shot up, a small reservoir of broth coated her chin and upper lip which she cleared by running her tongue round her face in a circular movement; a motion as effective as it was stomach churning.

"Refined and ladylike as always, aren't you, sister?" Nuo asked her now alert sibling. Meaning the question to be rhetorical but feeling she was about to dignify it with an answer.

At that very moment the door to their private room burst open revealing the figure silhouette of a large lynx. Stepping forward into the dingy light of the room revealed his immaculate tan/beige coloured fur which was magnificently offset by a simple deep orange tunic he was wearing, littered with various pouches and a bandolier containing a number of curious metallic spheres. He took a long drag from the long, curved pipe he held in his mouth, the glowing ember reflecting in his eyes and giving him an even more menacing look to his already imposing demeanour, and then released two plumes of dark smoke from his nostrils.

"Salutations, ladies" he said bowing deeply but stiffly before them, he appeared to be the kind of creature who would now to no one but in this situation though manners demanded such a display, that or he really wanted them for whatever the job he was proposing was. He continued in an accent which Nuo couldn't quite place, "Apologies for my late coming, I ran into some..." he checked his claws with a look as if contemplating some fond memory before he added, "trouble."

The sisters shared a momentary glance before Nuo rose from her seat and bowed slightly in greeting, not common practice for her, but this new arrival looked like a character who demanded respect and she often found that patrons who got what they wanted often paid better. "Greetings, you must be the contact my sister spoke so highly of, I am Nuo and from my knowledge you've met my sister Niu; however you may know us better as the Wong Sisters, assassins extraordinaire!" She said with great flourish, a business speech she had practised many a time, seemed silly but surprising how many it won over. Niu mumbled a greeting from the slumped position in her chair, barely even acknowledging the entrance of a potential customer, whom she herself had sought out.

Nuo offered her seat before retreating to the opposite side of the table, gently encouraging her relation to make room by way of a sisterly kick to the shin. Their visitor sat opposite the pair, his face hard, in a permanent scowl, no shade of humour in his face from their display. "Forgive me," he began, "but I believe a lack of introduction from me would be beneficial, especially in current times, yes?"

In truth, Nuo hadn't been listening; she was using their closer vicinity to the stranger to get a better gauge on just who he was. Small drops of blood, not yet dried, were present in the right shoulder of his tunic, almost invisible against the bright orange, a strange smell also hung in the air around him, difficult to place at first, she pondered on the idea of the mixture in his pipe but concluded that the salty, almost sour, smell was coming from the metallic orbs hanging from the belts wrapped around him. Saltpetre possibly, difficult to detect through the mix of charcoal, which would indicate that the spheres contained a mixture of gunpowder. Nuo found herself slowly sliding her chair back a few centimetres. Luckily her sister had been unusually attentive, noticing that her sibling was zoned out and that the client's questions was hanging in the air for an uncomfortable length, took matters into her own hands, although replying with her usual enthusiasm, "Of course, discretion is our highest priority." She leaned forward from her odd slumped angle in the corner, resting her arms on the table and this time, fully professionally and with all seriousness asked, "So, what's the job?"

"Ah, straight to the point, I will warn you now, this will be no simple undertaking, however, I assure you the risk will be well worth the reward" he said, leaning back and taking a small drag of his pipe. "Your target will be the mayor of Wuxi city, however I do not wish him killed, merely wounded."

"A little out of our line of work but certainly possible" replied Nuo, a small flag rising in the back of her mind. Few hire assassins to not kill people.

"Good, furthermore, I have a plan laid out for your benefit."

"Thanks, but we prefer to make our own preparations after we get a gauge on the surroundings..."

"I'm afraid that won't be an option, I have called in many favours from some select friends to make this possible, your compliance would be appreciated."

Nuo had worked with enough middlemen in her time to spot them with an almost sixth sense, but she had to admit that he had been a difficult spot, undoubtedly he wasn't the man in charge, but he was certainly up there. "I'm intrigued" she began, leaning forward in her seat, "let's hear this plan of yours."

The lynx shrugged. "Conceptually it is relatively simple, you have no doubt here about the marriage of the mayors daughter? Yes? You will gain access to the wedding ceremony, I will provide a distraction and then you will strike before making a swift exit in the confusion."

"Sounds simple…" began Nuo.

"The best plans often are." He replied, not jovially, but with a low, almost threatening tone.

"For one" Nuo continued, unfazed, "how do you expect us to gain entrance to the ceremony, we can hardly just sneak in through the roof or hop the walls, the palace is damn fortress! Do you just expect us to waltz up to the front door and demand access?"

"Actually, that's precisely what I expect you to do" he said, smiling widely he reached into a small pouch on his belt and produced a scroll. "Invitations to the ceremony, all bearing the correct seals and signatures, you will be allowed entry without second thought."

"And where did you acquire these, if I may be so bold?"

"I have my sources, miss, you would be best not to question them."

Another flag in Nuo's head, she could believe that this blood spattered feline whom enjoyed strapping explosives to him would have many connections within in a criminal underworld, she could not see him fraternising with anyone who could provide such items, especially if, as he had said, they were the genuine article. However, his very thinly veiled threat had not gone unnoticed so she swiftly changed the subject by asking, "And what is this distraction you have planned?"

"Ah, I'm glad you asked, I will require you cooperation for it to work; it is relatively simple and involves a nothing more than a cart full of explosives." He began glaring at Nuo after saying the word "explosives" almost as if to let her know that he was aware that she had been sizing him up earlier and knew what was contained in the orbs on his belt. "I have been involved in the matter personally, and I can assure you that the barrels are not packed enough to do any damage to the city, just make a rather convincing bang." He finished, smiling cruelly.

Nuo though over the plan in her head, now getting a pretty clear idea of the picture that was being painted before her. Some lower noble had sent his best mercenary here to give them a contract which would allow them to scramble for power. The signs were there, the nonlethal attack on the target, the highly public nature of the attack itself and perhaps most worryingly a cartful of explosives. The plan too was ludicrous, far from being as simple as it sounds, smuggling weapons in even with correct documents was borderline suicide and there was the small anomaly of their escape plan. The whole ploy seemed bigger than the three which sat around the table, something petty and political, something that would probably end up getting them killed.

It was at that moment, possibly sensing Nuo trepidation that Niu finally decided to chime in again, smiling and from her spot in the corner she prompted with a mock innocence, "Sir, do tell my sister what you told our associate some weeks back!"

"Better yet" he began; reaching once more for his belt although this time he produced a large sack, which appeared to contain a large weight of something, "I can show her!" He tossed the bag with some effort onto the table, where it landed with a heavy thud and the sound of something clinking inside. "Your advance, ladies, as was agreed, you will be paint a further triple of the value when you have completed the contract."

Nuo, eyed the bag, then her beaming sister, the coin in the single bag alone would definitely be enough for them to retire on, but four times that? They'd be set for life; they could live as royalty for the rest of their days, certainly a tantalising offer. Nuo couldn't really see much of a choice, the contract was a definitive suicide mission, but it was highly likely they'd never get a chance to make that much ever again.

It turns out that in that business, every life had its price, even hers.

 **Present Day**

Crane awoke early that morning, just as the first shafts of dawn light were beginning to shoot through the small window if his room. His observations of the city the previous day had been purely professional; it had not offered him the opportunity to view the allegedly breath-taking views of the city. Crane was unsure at first, as was his want, but had to witness the views for himself either to prove or disprove the claims, and early, under a fresh blanket of snow seems like the most opportune time to do it. It was during weather like this that he greatly envied his mammalian teammates ability to wear warm clothing, as any form of covering or heavy padding could interfere with his ability to fly, and mantis and viper were small enough as to gain heat from the larger members. Although, he had to admit his lodgings within the mayoral palace were kept at a comfortable temperature, it was the cold outside he was dreading, he pondered internally, before collecting his hat before heading to the door.

He listened momentarily in front of the doorway, before placing his hat on. Focusing in for a moment he could hear no signs of movement from his companions rooms indicating that they were all still asleep, fortunately for Crane, not wishing to be caught sneaking out or face any accusations that he was shirking off work. As much as he respected his teammates, he had to admit that he did enjoy a little alone time on occasion. Stealthily prizing open his door he poked his head out to check the hallway before creeping out and heading towards the exit.

As earlier, the corridor and adjoining rooms were all in correspondence with his sleeping comrades: Tigress, inaudible as always; light breathing from Viper; some quiet snoring from Mantis; Monkey, some louder snoring still and from Po... Crane quickly ducked into a small enclave in the hallway as he heard footsteps coming from Po's room. Not hearing his friend's signature snoring he was at first confused, that was, until Tigress shot out of his room moments later, seemingly in too much of a hurry to even notice him as she ran by. He was at first relieved, but then somewhat confused, although he chose to make nothing of it, probably just another case of them talking over any plans for the night, and there was to be a meeting of Po and the Five this morning as well, oh how Crane looked forward to it, to what horrible post he would be stuck at for the entirety of this uneventful mission. Sneaking out now definitely seemed to be the better idea; he could ask the others and catch up later…

Crane's train of thought was halted instantly as his foot struck something small on the floor. He quickly turned his gaze downward only to be met by the large eyes of a small green, seemingly enraged snake looking back up at him, a firm scowl set upon her usually cheerful disposition. Briefly cursing himself for not being more careful, Crane opened his mouth to attempt to explain himself, but Master Viper beat him to the punch and, with no effort to hide her irritation, asked, "And just where do you think you're sneaking off to in such a hurry?"

"Um… Hi, Viper… I, er… Didn't see you there…" stuttered Crane. In many respects, he was one of the most intelligent and linguistically able of the five, obtaining what could be referred to as a rather large 'Bird Brain' nevertheless, when he was talking to Viper alone in such a way he may as well of been a lowly janitor as he was in the temple many years ago.

"Oh and there was I thinking you just felt like kicking me today!" Viper snarled sarcastically, causing Crane to wince. "And just where do you think you're running off to?" she continued, eyeing him sternly.

"I was just… I was going to…"

"Because I hope you weren't planning on skipping this morning's little planning meetup that Tigress scheduled, you know how she gets when things don't go exactly to plan!" She said leaning towards Crane, so as to intensify her glare.

"But I know all I'm going to be doing is flying around the city, again, looking for any trespassers or assassins or really any kind of general bad guy sort. It's so dull being the only one of us that can fly!" Crane said, sounding defeated.

"Come on, it might not be that bad!" Viper said, using her tail to spin Crane round to the same direction she was now heading, softening a bit at seeing her friend in that state and in an attempt to take his mind off of the issue she asked, "What where you planning on doing anyway at this time in the morning?"

"Oh, I was going to fly over the city and…" as soon as the words left his mouth he realised his mistake, and walked back to Po's room in silence, with Viper at his side laughing every step of the way.

The meeting was of course being held in Po's room as it was the largest, giving them all some space to move, he shuddered to think at what it would be like if they were all trying to squeeze into Tigress's smaller room, or worse, Mantis's, and was for once thankful of the privileges the Dragon Warrior granted them. As much as he enjoyed the title, he was frequently worried that he failed to live up to it, often wishing that others would simply see him as "Po" rather than a warrior of legend, but for the most part he tried not to dwell on it, and simply focused at becoming exceedingly awesome at his Kung Fu. He quickly unrolled the scroll he was holding and checked over it again, it was the list of orders for each of them for the coming night, detailed to a fault, Tigress had given it to him the day previous in preparation for this meeting, make no mistake, Po may have outranked her in title, but Tigress was still very much the leader. Thinking of her made Po think back to the previous night, he would have almost convinced himself the whole thing was a whimsical dream were it not for the fact he had awoken in the doorframe covered in a thick blanket, which could have only possibly have been placed there by Tigress. Po sighed, there was no way she felt the same way about him that he felt about her, but he always hoped that someday, some way, by some miracle…

Po's daydreaming was suddenly interrupted by the entrance of the always energetic Master Mantis, who was followed closely by Master Monkey who was, shall we say, less of a morning creature. Both greeted Po in their usual jovial manner, before taking at seat at the low table placed in the centre of his room. Soon after, Master Tigress joined them and followed suit by way of a curt acknowledgement to Monkey and Mantis, but unusually only gave Po a mumbled greeting, seeming to not want to meet his eyes, but swiftly took a seat at the table. Following a few moments of uncomfortable silence, the team was soon completed by the arrival of a still grinning Viper and a somewhat miffed looking Crane, who quickly took the remaining seats.

After sitting for a few moments before realising that all eyes in the room were on him, Po began, "Hi everybody, I'll try to make this quick since I know we've all got lots of stuff to do before tonight, so I'll start with… Oh, Mantis and Monkey, you guys are on general guard duty, Mantis is on lower floors, Monkey, you're best at scaling through the rafters so you got upper, sound good to you guys?"

Monkey and Mantis nodded simultaneously to show their approval.

"Ok, sweet!" continued Po before casting an eye around the table, trying to remember who was next. "Oh, Viper, you're going to be looking out for the entertainers, seeing who comes and goes, stop anyone trying to smuggle anything, or anyone in, up for it?"

"You know it, Po." Viper said smiling sweetly, happy that her task at least afforded her some interesting spectacle, unlike…

"Crane, I'm going to need you for…"

"Ariel reconnaissance?" interrupted Crane, tersely.

"Well, I had down flying around looking for bad guys down, but I guess you could call it that if you wanted to…" continued Po, cautiously, sensing his avian colleague's displeasure.

"No, No. Its fine Po, I'm happy to do it." Crane sighed, not even trying to show any enthusiasm, while across the table Viper was trying, and failing, to stifle a laugh resulting in Crane shooting her the mother of all withering glares.

Sensing the mounting tensions Po promptly said, "Moving on, Tigress, you'll be down with the party guests, just generally mingling and looking out for any trouble makers, shouldn't be too hard to spot anyone out of place…"

"I'm sorry what?" Monkey blurted out suddenly, a grin already spreading across his face at the prospect of such a ludicrous scenario. Tigress was well known as being the most introverted of the group and had a certain way with people that left much to be desired. "Tigress in with the party guests? Are you sure that isn't more a job for you Po?"

"I wouldn't be my first choice either" interjected Tigress, struggling to hold back a growl, causing her eyebrow to twitch slightly. "But Po has graciously offered to prepare the meal for this evening's festivities, so as to prevent any tampering with ingredients, so I'm afraid it's unavoidable."

"Oh, gods!" Mantis said between bouts of laughter. "She's going to have to wear a dress!" At once both Mantis and Monkey buckled with laughter, inciting further irritation from Tigress, who was snarling at them with bared teeth. Po could pretty much feel the vibrations from her growling reverberating through the table; however the still snickering pair seemed not to notice.

Po, fearing for the safety of his friend's lives, loudly cleared his throat and placed the most displeased scowl he could muster upon his countenance, basing it on one he'd seen Shifu do once. "Are you guys quite finished?" Po said, using his best attempt at an irritated tone with them.

It seemed to work far better than planned, as the pair seemed to cease their giggling immediately, and hung their heads in shame under his impressive glower. "Sorry, Po." said both Monkey and Mantis in a defeated tone.

"I don't think it's me you should be apologising to…" Po said, motioning toward Tigress with his head, as she sat there with a snarl seemingly frozen in place on her face.

"Oh, sorry Tigress!"

"Yeah, sorry Tigress, it was Mantis's fault!"

After a few moments without a response from Tigress, Po decided it best to forget the issue and said, "So I think that's everyone good with their chores for the evening, so, like I said, we've got lots to prepare for the evening so you guys can consider yourselves dismissed…" A sigh of relief filled the room as Monkey and Mantis dashed for the exit in fear while Crane slowly got up with Tigress and Viper staying where they were. "And I'm sure everything will go smoothly tonight, after all with us here, what could possibly go wrong?"

 **Author note the second: With regards to uploads, I'm going to try to keep it on Fridays if I can. In saying that, I was checking my stats the other day and noticed that the fair majority of readers are from the USA, and I have no idea what day it is there in relation to time zones... Anyway, this chapter was pretty much done last week but as I said, keeping to Friday uploads, I waited to this week, which meant I got a head start on the bigger, better, less meticulous plan filled next chapter, which means it should be up sooner! But until then, feel free to favourite/follow/review as you please!** **  
** **Catch you next chapter! ;)**


	4. White Wedding

**Author Note: I said this chapter would be up sooner, did I not? (Didn't expect it to be so long though.)**

In a Burning Heart: Chapter IV, White Wedding

Po read and reread the inventory list for the palace kitchens, pacing back and forward along the length of his room, or should he say Tigress's room. He had agreed to lend them his room for a while to allow Tigress and Viper some extra space for getting ready for the ceremony, since he wouldn't need it for anything in the immediate future. He was suitably panicked, he had filled big orders in his father's noodle shop before, but none quite matched the scale and importance of the meal he would be cooking tonight, not that the defence of the mayor was any lower on his agenda, but should all go well, the guests deserved dinner to remember. More checking; more nervous pacing. In an attempt to steady himself, he took a long, deep breath, which filled his nostrils with the full scents of the room; the scent of Tigress. Fragrant, yet somehow lacking in delicacy, it was unmistakably hers, Po let the incense like scent drift fully into his sinuses as he felt a wave of calmness wash over him. In truth, he envied her for far more than her Kung Fu prowess, her very demeanour was fascinating to him, and he wished he had her focus and discipline, she wanted for nothing other than the betterment of her Kung Fu knowledge, or so Po thought...

He was not allowed to continue his musings, however as at that very moment, Viper entered the room, looking somewhat flustered. Taking a couple of seconds to compose herself, she turned to him and sweetly asked, "Hey Po, how's the preparations for dinner coming?"

Po shrugged. "It's going alright, I guess, how about Tigress?"

Viper took a deep breath, "Well, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about... Is it okay if I borrow you for a couple of minutes?"

"Sure!" Po replied cheerily, setting down the scroll happy to have something to take his mind off of it for a few moments. Following Viper out of the door he asked with a large amount of concern, "What's up?"

Viper sighed, "I think Tigress might have taken some of the other guys' comments this morning to heart, she's really uncomfortable with the dress. It really is lovely, I should know I picked it myself, but she wants your opinion."

"My opinion?" Po Responded, flabbergasted.

"Indeed, she said something about you always saying your thoughts directly, without thinking on them too long."

"Oh, I guess that's a compliment, well from Tigress it is."

Viper giggled but gave nothing more in response as they made their way to Po's former room in silence. Knocking on the door a couple of times yielded no response so Viper tentatively entered first before beckoning Po to follow her. Once inside he noticed that some screens had been placed in the centre of the room and there was a smattering of beauty items, many of which unknown to Po, covering much of the table. Initial impressions caused him to think his former dwellings were empty, that was until Tigress' head darted out from behind one of the screens. "Viper, you're back," she said sounding somewhat exasperated, eyeing Po she added, "and I see you've brought Po, thank you for coming, I appreciate your very busy... But... I... Need some help with this outfit..."

"Happy to help!" Po responded with genuine honesty. "But I can come back later if you're still getting ready... Or..."

"No, it's quite alright Po."

There was silence for a moment as Tigress remained in the same position with only her head visible from behind the screen.

"Ummm, well?" Po asked somewhat perplexed by the situation.

Tigress let out a deep sigh, "Yes... Okay, enough stalling." Her face suddenly hardened, "If you laugh Po, I swear..."

"I won't, promise!" Po said quickly, with a grimace.

With a sharp but deep intake of breath Tigress stepped forth from behind the screen. Viper had indeed been correct with regards to the beauty of the clothing, a simple red silk flecked with gold stitching; it was not too far removed from the vests which Tigress usually wore. Tigress' figure may not have been the most stereotypically feminine, and the dress did show some signs of being I'll fitting in a couple of minor areas however it did compensate somewhat with this matter, highlighting her curvature without placing a particularly large emphasis on her muscle. However, Po cared little for the fashion aspect, more for the beautiful creature that dwelled within it. Thinking to himself, he would never have suggested that Tigress was in any way unpleasant looking but her current ensemble showed her in an entirely different light, the always plainly dressed and kept warrior was practically glowing with the flowing waves of red silk cascading down her legs and meticulously groomed fur releasing a level of beauty Po had never seen before, angelic almost, in his opinion. Unbeknownst to him, however, while his mind was racing with the visual masterpiece before him, his body had reacted by remaining completely still, aside from allowing his mouth to fall agape and his eyes to widen an exponentially large amount. Tigress responded in kind by remaining perfectly still, trying to keep her breathing level, awaiting some kind of response from Po.

Gratuitously entertained by the pair's hilariously awkward interaction, Viper thought it best to make a swift retreat, "I'll give you guys some privacy." She muttered quickly, slithering out the door at great speed.

Po ignored her, of course, still entirely focused on Tigress, but she was growing tired of his particularly hypnotised state, and waved her paw slowly in front of Po's wide open eyes in an attempt to bring him back round. "Po?" She asked with a small hint of concern in her voice. As her ire began to rise, seeing her hand motion having no affect, she continued, somewhat more sternly, with "I'm going to need you to snap out of it Po!"

Upon hearing this, Po snapped his jaw shut and seemed to return to the same reality. "Oh Tigress, sorry I was just..." He began.

"Don't worry about it, so with Viper gone, what do you actually think?"

"What do you mean?"

"Obviously that whole display was for her benefit, I know she spent a lot of time finding this dress, but... I look ridiculous."

Po resisted the urge to give the downtrodden tiger a reassuring hug, but thought it best to avoid the possibility of having any bones broken on such an important night, the same went for just sharing his real opinion with her. Choosing his words very carefully, he said, "That wasn't for Viper, I'll give it to you it's certainly a... different look for you, but it's certainly one that works! Plus it's only for a night and it's not like we know anyone!"

Tigress let out a small chuckle, "I'm not sure I want to be taking fashion advice from the panda in sackcloth pants..." She replied with a grin.

"Hey, it was you that asked!"

"True, thank you, Po, maybe it might not be so bad." She said, smiling slightly.

"It'll be fine" Po insisted. "And, if things really go well you might even pick yourself up a handsome young emissary to dance with!" Po laughed as he darted out the door before Tigress could retort, hearing her irritated growl from behind him.

Meanwhile, Nuo Wong was upset that even after her laborious checks, she wouldn't have room to take many of the various types of arrows she had brought with her. The problem lay with the robes they had purchased earlier, simple yet with a definitive air of refinement about them, they were perfect to gain entry to the ceremony; decadent enough to get by the gate, yet plain enough to go suitably unnoticed once inside. Their close fitting upper section however, meant that she could only rely on strapping weapons to her legs, which wasn't a problem as her bow had a small mechanism which allowed it to fold in half for ease of transport, but she could only carry four arrows tops before her already stiff looking walk became a downright comedic shuffle. Electing to give up her forth arrow for one with a length of rope attached in hopes of making escape easier, she firmly fastened it to her leg along with two simple, steel headed ones, one for the mayor and another for anyone unlucky enough to get in their way, and then turned her attention to her sister.

Niu seemed more than at ease with the concept, seeming to have attached any and every sharp instrument she could lay her paws on to the various straps fastened around her legs. Terrifyingly, Niu had been forced to clean herself to at least a borderline acceptable standard, a rare feat in itself, which made the more unruly and unkempt sister appear uncharacteristically ladylike and causing her to actually show some resemblance to her meticulously groomed sibling. Nuo envied her sister at this point, knifes where easy to conceal, and light, and deadly, she felt inadequate with her cumbersome bow and measly three arrows, knowing it could blow their cover at any moment. Although, it was certainly their best means of a swift exit. Speaking of which, Nuo cast an eye across the now barren room, they had packed their things- which constituted a change of clothes, some simple provisions and enough arrows to blot out the moon- earlier in the day and stored them on the outskirts of town, hoping to pick them up during their departure.

With the ceremony looming the streets became packed with well-wishers and street vendors alike, the whole city seemed to pulsate with energy as dignitaries from across China, and indeed, the world, began to arrive. Crane, for his part, was circling the sky above the city, a vantage point from which he could see that the streets below were overflowing making it near impossible to identify anything. Having been driven to distraction by this fact, he had diverted his attentions to the luscious splendour of orange and red hues the city had placed before him, all being beautifully reflected by new fallen snow, so captivated by this sight was he, that he failed to notice the two well dressed, still somewhat shifty felines making their way to the entrance of the palace, a mistake he would later be chastised for, however, even had he been at his full attention, he would never had any change of spotting the rogues amongst the crowds and his instructions were to watch the walls, not the main gates.

Thankfully, and somewhat surprising to many, the ceremony went unhindered and the Mayor's daughter was married before the eyes of the not only the entirety of the city, but before some of the most important creatures in China. It had been a divine occasion however it was not yet over as the dignitaries and honoured guests retreated to the halls of the palace for the feast, parties erupted in the surrounding streets producing such a humongous din that even the walls of the palace themselves could not hope to mute it. It was met by an almost equal uproar from the inside, emanating from the palace kitchens as two of the regular chefs watched in awe as a seemingly black and white blur flitted around the kitchen, stirring, chopping, seasoning and frying; sending a whirlwind of pots and pans flying across the room as it went. Po had always retained much of his natural clumsiness even in his Kung Fu; however it seemed to dissipate when it came to his cooking, performing feats that would make any seasoned master jealous with the utmost ease as he prepared a wide variety of dishes.

Having assumed the cart would have exploded by this point the Wong sisters suddenly found themselves at a loss, now moving with the other high priority guests in a strange state of confusion but staying ready to spring the attack at any point. The pair continued with the rest of the guests to the main hall, trying to avoid drawing too much attention, which they were succeeding with due largely in part to the currently swarming crowd that encapsulated them. However, with the density quickly disbanding upon entering the main hall, the siblings suddenly felt overly exposed, Nuo began to lose some nerve, it was never sensible to be in such a close proximity to a target for such a prolonged length of time. Thankfully, the newlyweds and their respective families had a table laser unpinned a raised platform placed at the far end of the hall, meaning that visuals on their target could be easily maintained, yet this did little to comfort Nuo's qualms. Her sister did little to help matters, scanning the room and sniffing rapidly, Nuo wondered what she was up to until Niu turned to her and asked, "What smells so good?"

Nuo stared at her sister, slack jawed and apparently frozen in place.

"What?" Shrugged Niu, "I'm hungry and it's not like we're going to be busy until the, ahem, you-know-what." With that she slipped off into the crowd and headed, following her nose, in the direction of the food laden serving tables.

Niu's eyes widened upon viewing the almost endless selection of food before her, it took all her restraint to pick up a bowl and chopsticks, not just shovel the delicious looking spread into her mouth as she would have preferred. Gathering a bowl of various dumplings, she began stuffing them into her mouth with reckless abandon, so much so that she didn't even sense someone coming up behind her.

"Glad to see someone's enjoying the food!" Said an upbeat voice from over her right shoulder. Spinning on the spot, mouth still full of dumplings, Niu was greeted by the giant figure of Po standing right in front of her. Nuo, who was pushing through the crowd at the time, froze on the spot, and glared at her sister in horror, Niu did likewise, catching her sister's eye from the short distance.

Miraculously this whole exchange went unnoticed by Po, and Niu ceased her chance, and, mustering the most genuine smile she could, said, "And why wouldn't I be, these dumplings are to die for!"

"Um, thanks!" Po said, rather taken aback by the unexpected compliment, "it's an old family recipe."

"Really, you made this?" Niu responded, feigning shock. "It's seems unimaginable that they would keep one as handsome as you cooped up in the kitchen!"

Po began to blush, unable to respond to the compliments of the attractive young snow leopard which stood before him. Fumbling with his words for a few moments he eventually began a stuttered response, "I, em, well... That's..."

Luckily he was saved by the timely and unlikely interjection of Nuo, coming to the aid of nth her sister and Po. "Please excuse my sibling, mighty Dragon Warrior." She said with a deep and reverent bow, before laying an arm on her sister's shoulder. "I fear she may have had too much to drink this evening." To ensure the message to her sister was absolutely clear, she unsheathed her claws and drove them lightly into her sisters shoulder.

Getting the message immediately, Niu quickly said, "Yes, do accept my deepest apologies Dragon Warrior!" finished off with a little bow, before she was dragged away by her angry sibling.

Still somewhat confused by the situation which has just unfolded in front of him, Po decided it was best not to dwell on it for too long and simply shrugged it off and carried some of the empty serving plates back to the kitchen, giving a friendly mod to Tigress as he passed, whom was leaning against a nearby pillar, glaring at anyone who tried to start a conversation with her. High level subterfuge if ever Po saw it.

"Are you nuts?" Nuo half shouted, half whispered into her sister's ear, still clenching her shoulder to keep her close.

"What? It's a party; I'm trying to blend in!" Niu shot back.

"Could you at least try to 'blend in' with someone who isn't the greatest warrior in China?" Nuo replied, somehow seeming even more aggravated.

"But it's the last thing they'd expect!"

"It's stunts like that which are going to get us killed!"

"Please, Nuo, I had everything under contr..."

Before she could finish her sentence, a gigantic explosion which seemed to cause the entirety of the palace to tremble was heard from outside. The rambunctious hall fell into an immediate silence as many tried to work out what was happening and with many more already ducking for cover under tables or just simply hitting the deck. Nuo Wong acted instantly, slamming the release mechanism on her folded bow and readying an arrow in one fluid movement, taking a moment to align her shot, the mayor's current sitting position left very little non-lethal target exposed, and this she decided that a well-placed arrow to his right shoulder would suffice. With a sharp pull of the string and a sudden release thereafter, the arrow began arcing across the hall with expert precision. The mayor, having had little time to comprehend the situation was unable to process the projectile hurtling toward him, and remained suitably fixed in his position.

Luckily for him, someone in the room's reactions were far speedier than his own as the arrow was plucked from the sky a mere two meters from his shoulder by an orange and black blur. A large number of guests suddenly realised what was taking place before them and began to run for the safety of adjacent rooms or away from the centre of the room at the very least. Tigress span as she landed, angling herself as to face the assailant, locking eyes with Nuo she snapped the arrow she was clutching with impossible ease. Nuo was understandably terrified, reaching hastily for her second arrow and switching targets. Tigress began barrelling towards her but her speed was dulled slightly by the tight dress she was wearing and Nuo was an adept hand with her bow, readying a second arrow faster than Tigress had anticipated. Steadying her aim on the oncoming tiger, Nuo felt a pang of remorse, not from a moral standpoint, but simply from the fact that she hated killing for free those who she could get paid to kill later. What a waste.

However, she needn't of worried as she caught a glimpse of a white and black shape out the corner of her eye moments too late to doge the punch coming straight for her, which knocked her of balance and set her penultimate arrow cascading across the hall, ensuring the safety of her future investment; that being Tigress's life. Face to face, Po led with a few quick jabs, all of which were batted away by Nuo who was using her bow as a makeshift staff, not wanting to waste her remaining arrow. He followed with a few kick which she easily avoided with a backwards leap. He was good, expertly trained, but she was faster and with her bow giving her extra reach, it was simple to keep him at bay... For now.

Tigress was running to Po's aid after watching the fast exchange of blows, however, a hearing a quiet 'thud' she suddenly felt the long material of the dress snag on something. Turning, she noticed the glittering steel of a short knife nailing her dress to the floor, glancing around just in time to see Niu Wong burst from the crowd, sending an array of knifes and daggers in her direction. Reacting instantaneously, Tigress pushed off from the floor, tearing the dress but freeing herself in the process, and used her momentum to continue back flipping, allowing her to doge the hail of razor like, metallic objects heading her way. Tigress landed gracefully but was still met by further projectiles from the continuously advancing Wong sister, who seemed to be drawing from an endless supply of knifes. None of the projectiles appeared to be well aimed and Tigress dodged them with ease, however it became apparent all too late that Niu was simply using them as a distraction to close the distance as she propelled herself at Tigress, brandishing a cruel looking curved blade. Just barely anticipating the attack, Tigress was forced to duck low, out of the way of the slashing blade, missing it by mere millimetres as she slid across the floor, Niu, becoming more furious having missed a perfect attack, made use of their closer vicinity by directing a few slashes at Tigress's stomach, which she avoided with a simple backwards step, she also noticed a slight opening in the assassin's attack pattern and baited a second similar attack. Lunging again, Niu was rewarded with a handful of quick punches and a painful kick to leg, catching her off guard, causing her to become even more furious, telegraphing a huge overextended lunge towards Tigress's throat with seemingly reckless abandon; Tigress ceased her chance, grabbing her attacker's wrist with both paws and wrenching it in an attempt to cause her to drop the weapon, pulling her close as she did so. Unfortunately Tigress realised her mistake far too late, Niu did indeed drop her dagger, but it did my clatter to the floor as Tigress expected, it instead fell into Niu's other paw which was ready in anticipation for the move. Tigress attempted to push herself back out of danger but was too late as Niu dived forward, slashing and opening a deep but clean cut in Tigress's right arm, causing her to cry out as she place her paw over the wound to stem the bleeding. Niu Wong now held a smug sneer, pleased with herself having injured such a famed opponent.

Meanwhile, her sister and Po had yet to resolve their stalemate, with the pair trading blows and dodging out of the way in equal measure, her bow kept her at a safe distance but made a lousy weapon when used in such a manner, and Po couldn't get close enough to do anything fancy thus was restrained to the odd jab here and there. Upon hearing a cry of pain, however, the pair suddenly stopped both equally concerned to investigate what was happening with the others, seeing Tigress stumble back Po instantly contemplated running to her aid, but knew he couldn't allow the other attacker to escape or recover any arrows. Nuo reassured by her sister's victory changed strategy taking advantage of the panda's distracted state she produced her remaining arrow, and after fixing the attached length of rope to the centre of her bow, fired it, not at Po, but straight up to the ceiling. Coiling the rope around the bow so that it was taut a couple of meters from the ground, she ran along the ground to build up some momentum before leaping at Po. Having been transfixed by Tigress's fight he didn't noticed the attacking feline until the final second, turning just in then to receive a kick to the face from the now suspended assassin, catching him off guard and causing him to stumble from the force of the impact. Using the reverse momentum from the kick to propeller herself further into the air, she changed her position so that she was hanging by her legs like some sort of murderous trapeze artist, not the most effective- or orthodox- method of fighting but it would certainly keep the panda busy and that was all she needed, if her sister kept up her current display the two of them would be able to make swift work of the panda. Reaching the height of her arc she spun to face Po, who was standing ready for an attack this time, she swung, heading towards him with immense speed, Po hunkered down and readied to block the strike that was undoubtedly heading for him. Anticipating this, Nuo altered her course slightly swinging out and landing a volley of punches to the side and back of Po's head and shoulders, Po leaped to attempt to grab her buts he easily beat back his arms from her heightened position; perhaps this method wasn't as useless as she first thought.

Tigress couldn't afford to give her wound any more attention as she began circling Niu, allowing it to bleed freely, causing a stream of blood to run down her arm. She could hope her opponent become overconfident due to her injury, but she doubted she would last long enough to find out; she was left with few options. Weighing it up, she was larger and almost certainly stronger than the leopard, but her attacker was definitely faster. Suddenly, without warning, Tigress leaped forward, causing Niu's eyes to widen in terror certainly not anticipating her wounded opponent to stage such an all-out attack, grabbing the paw which held the knife with her uninjured arm, while using the other to fire punches into Niu. The strategy was effective, with Tigress's superior brute strength keeping the knife at bay and the assassin's other arm was preoccupied attempting to block some of Tigress's more lethal strikes. Unable to handle such an assault, Niu lashes out with a sneaky kick to Tigress's shin, the automatic reaction to which was to loosen her grip on Niu's arm, taking her opportunity, she pulled her paw free and tired an attack by swinging at Tigress's throat. Just barely managing to duck under the swing, Tigress responded in kind by tackling into Niu's chest sending her flying backward and both of them to the floor. Tigress was up first but Niu span where she was on the ground, reaching out with her blade, hoping to find any kind of target. Tigress, should have blocked the strike but weakened by her loss of blood and harboured by the constriction of her dress, missed beating Niu' Shane away by seconds, resulting in another smaller wound being opened in her thigh, Niu quickly followed this up by sweeping her legs round, tripping Tigress, causing her to crash to the ground. Niu got up slowly brandishing her dagger with unequal menace, eager to finish the job. Her concentration was snapped however, by a disconcerting scream from her sister, who was now plummeting through the air and crashed face first into the panda, Niu assumed the rope had snapped until she saw a small green object moving down the wall near her sister. Before she could hope to aid her, she was suddenly struck in the side of the head by a blunt object of some description. Just managing to keep her balance she turned to face her new opponent, a staff wielding Master Monkey, casting a brief eye over Tigress's prone body, "Next time tiger, next time" Niu thought to herself.

Nuo was back on her feet near instantly, sufficive to say, Po was not. She gripped a length of severed rope and glanced around the room, taking a moment to pinpoint the tiny master sprinting toward her. Wrapping one end of rope around her arm, she swung it over her head and cracked it forward, using it as a sort of makeshift whip. Mantis darted out of the way in time, but decided to proceed more cautiously from this point, coiling for a quick leap to close the distance; he was instantly struck by another crack of the whip. Po, back on his feet tried to sneak up on the assassin while she was preoccupied with Mantis but his 'stealth mode' was in some serious need of work, as she spooked him instantly turning and using her improvised whip to ensnare his leg and send him crashing to the ground once more. Keeping Mantis at bay proved simple with such a weapon as she tried to retreat out of Po's range, however, he was up sooner than before Nuo began to panic, lashing out with another swing... Which Po caught easily. She looked at him, saw he was smiling, then looked at her arm, remembering she had wrapped the rope to keep it secure. Po have an almighty tug on the rope, powerless to stop it, she came hurtling toward him, to which he used his rotund gut to send her ricocheting back across the hall and through one of the support pillars. She hit the wall... hard, and didn't get up.

Out of range Niu realised her knife was useless against Monkey as he continued to batter her with countless blows. In an attempt to get closer she tired the same move which she had used to wound Tigress, luckily, Monkey saw through her ruse having been somewhat of a trickster himself many years ago, and after he battered away the paw holding the knife quickly rebounded his staff to smack away the paw awaiting the falling knife, causing the weapon to fall to the floor. Seeing that her sister was having trouble with the other masters, Niu's only option was to finish the fight swiftly, a feat which currently seemed impossible; but that certainly didn't prevent her from trying, diving towards Monkey, dragging him to the ground and using her superior size and weight to sandwich him between the floor and his own staff in an attempt to strangle him. Monkey was agile and skilled but in this position there was little he could do against her shear brute strength. Mustering all he could Monkey closed his eyes to try and push the assassin off of him or at least until his companions could come to his aid, but he felt his strength fading as the staff moved closer to his neck. Suddenly all of his attacker's weight seemed to shift as she was sent flying off of him by a strong kick to the stomach, not the most honourable of moves but certainly an effective one. Monkey looked up to see it was in fact a panting and bloodied Tigress who had come to his aid but she was paying little attention to him, fixing a burning stare at the winded Wong sister. Niu tried to get up, the kick had caught her off guard and she felt that there was the possibility of at least a few broken ribs, but was halted as she saw the shadow of Tigress looming over her, "I surrend…" she began, but was cut off by a massive blow from Tigress, knocking the leopard out cold.

Monkey, who had been watching the event, was still lying on the floor and rapidly remembered exactly why it was that many were so afraid of Tigress, determining it was best if he stayed where he was, not sure how Tigress would react should he approach. Po held no such fears as he came bounding over with Mantis in tow, with Mantis going to help Monkey up and Po instantly going to check on Tigress. She was still standing her back to them, her breathing deep and jagged, her skin pale and the cut on her arm still noticeably oozing blood. Po reached out and patted her unwounded arm, "Tigress?" said Po hesitantly, "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Po" she began sternly, beginning to turn to face him, but as she did so her legs buckled and she fell forward. Po reacted instinctively catching her gently in his arms before she hit the ground. "Just don't ever make me wear a dress again." She said quietly into his ear, before slipping into unconsciousness.

 **Author Note Refuelled: I don't think that was too bad for my very first action sequence-y bit, then again, I suppose I have my own bias on the issue. So feel free to tell me how awful (or not awful) it was in the review section, and, if you really feel like it, maybe drop a favourite or give me a follow! Somewhat hilariously the next chapter was supposed to be the first chapter, so look forward to enjoying that soon, so I suppose I'll be seeing you folks there! ;)**


	5. The Seer

**Author Note: First chapter introducing some OCs so, in the words of Monty Python,** **"** **And Now for Something Completely Different"**

In a Burning Heart: Chapter V, The Seer

"For the tales she tells, for the gifts that she will sell"

"For the sight she knows, for a vision that still grows"

"With the dream in her eyes no one's seen"

Sutherland often pondered the significance of the location at which he was currently staying: the small tavern was the last point of refuge before the great northern mountains and as such was constantly being battered with blinding snowstorms. Moreover, did that make the tavern the beginning of nowhere or the end of somewhere? Possibly both? Perhaps in the end it didn't matter, both were equally reclusive. The northern mountains themselves were home to treacherous snowdrifts and a general lack of oxygen rich air made the slopes even more perilous; it was weather conditions like these which made the arctic fox thankful for his thick fur allowing him to gain the same effect from a simple coat and wrappings in weather which would require at least three thick layers of clothing for most other species of animals. So it was certainly not the weather which was drawing him to this place, nor to any great extent the reclusiveness of the area, make no mistake, the fox very much enjoyed conversing with others. Instead, it was the sheer sense of anonymity he gained from staying at a location which saw hundreds of different visitors daily, with the vast array of different species, backgrounds and characters passing through it was easy for even him to go unnoticed by everyone. A somewhat surprising reason given his appearance for those seeking anonymity seldom insisted upon dragging an ornate cane around with them at all times and dressed in purely white clothing. The cane itself was of his first ever purchases after leaving the temple, he though at least, he could never remember buying it. Being an apothecary by trade, his biology and general knowledge of a vast number of herbs was one of the few hobbies he had retained over the years, working more from muscle memory than any sort of retained skill at this point. His clothing had been tailor made years ago and served him well since; the trousers were tight and wrapped at the legs to conserve heat – a useful utility in the current climate and the jacket was from a blend of several of several materials all tightly woven together but was an otherwise well-fitting and unremarkable piece; it was elegant apparel for an elegant individual. He opened his eyes, finishing his "meditation" and arose from the lotus position, collected his cane from where it lay, propped against the bedframe before he cast an eye over his room to insure everything was in order. He would not have called his room disorganised or messy, to him it was a victim of entropy, cut down in the prime of its tidiness and reduced to piles of books and scrolls, a smattering of empty bottles, vials and conical flasks of varying sizes and containing liquids of numerous colours and viscosity spread across every flat surface and an unmade bed. The universe dictated that the most disordered state was the most stable and who was he to argue with the universe, so downstairs to the bar he headed.

It was at this point he had to admit his quest for anonymity had failed somewhat, and was now under frequent character attacks from the barmaid, Huan. Their initial skirmish had taken place after routine inspection of the guest quarters, upon seeing the state of his room she demanded he clean it immediately, things took a swift downturn after he attempted to explain his theory of entropy subsequently leading to her suggesting an enormous number of abysmal acts for him to carry out upon his own unmentionables. He had liked her instantly. And she, rather thankfully, had slowly warmed to him over the months in which he had been staying there and the two had what could be considered a rather strong friendship. Upon finishing his descent into the bar Sutherland spotted Huan who was dressed in her usual green attire, a choice which she believed brought out her eyes, and was positioned in her usual spot behind the bar sitting on a stool to boost her up to a height allowing her to view over the top of the counter, even though she was relatively large for a rabbit. "Or is she a hare?"Sutherland thought to himself. "Did she ever actually tell me?"

"I'm a rabbit" said Huan, not even looking from the glass she was currently cleaning. "I told you that about a week after we met, during that _altercation_ we had about how you were hording used bowls in your room."

"But… How did you know I was…?" Sutherland stammered his response.

Huan shrugged, "You had that look on your face, not far removed from the usual look, but somehow more gormless. Though you've only been here for three months can't expect you to know everything right away!" She added on a little fake laugh to the end in case her sarcasm wasn't blatant enough.

He took a seat at the bar, glancing slowly around the squat and dingy setting he noticed the bar was unusually barren of patrons, often at this time the place was a bustling hub of activity with many returning from or heading out on expeditions into the mountains, he suspected the absence of guests was largely due to the adverse weather which had been occurring recently, with extremely heavy snowfall for that time of year. The place had been reduced to an elderly boar whom sat in the corner holding a manuscript of some description, however was slumped over sleeping quietly behind it and the second patron was a young snow leopardess who bore the imperial seal upon her clothing, no doubt a messenger of the imperial court returning from a mission in some far off lands, stopping briefly after her trip across the mountains. Huan finished cleaning the glass and set it down behind the counter. She grabbed a bottle of strong liquor from the shelf behind her and slid it and a cup along to Sutherland. She had at first found his somewhat unhealthy adoration of alcohol to be quite unsettling. Though working in such a place as she did, over the years she had learned not to judge those whom had turned to the bottle and took it to be another of his eccentricities for she realised that he in general was rather eccentric in his mannerisms and just accepted it like she had done with the rest of his existence. "That's charming, that is. Do you speak to all your guests like that?" He said glaring at her and growling softly. She returned his glare, narrowing her eyes for further effect. To any onlooker who wasn't familiar with the pair's antics the whole scene seemed rather threatening until the pair burst out laughing after about a minute of intense eye contact.

"How goes the brewing anyway? Created the world's most potent hangover cure yet?" asked Huan, in reference to his supposed medicinal prowess. She had been well aware for some time that this was not actually his profession; in fact, she'd never actually seen him so much as bandage a paper cut and was completely certain that there was no possibility of him having ingredients or equipment delivered, but asked anyway more out of habit than anything else.

"Progress has been slow of recent, if I'm honest" he replied sadly. "Lacking inspiration I think."

"But how could you say that with me here" she replied putting on a mock husky voice and fluttering her eyelashes. "Aren't I all the inspiration you need?"

"But of course! Only I'm not writing a horror novel, I'm afraid. A real pity though, I'm sure half of China would be having nightmares with that kind of stimulation!"

"Wow, thank you, you're hilarious." she said dryly.

"You're quite welcome" he replied brightly. Just then a tantalising smell entered his nostrils. "Oh, before we go any further, what might you be serving for breakfast?"

"Sutherland, its one thirty in the afternoon…"

"Oh, what might you be serving for lunch?"

"At this current moment I'm considering filet of fox"

"I assure you this isn't meat, it's entirely fluff"

"A real shame, looks like the usual noodle soup then" she said hopping down from her stool to head over to the pot which was gently bubbling behind her. She swiftly filled a small bowl and slid it along the bar to Sutherland who gently caught it and slider her back the liquor bottle and cup, both empty. She shook her head. She was fairly reasoning at this point that he just absorbed it through his skin; she hadn't seen him raise the cup to his mouth once but he'd somehow managed to finish it.

However, before she could decide to be either impressed or disturbed he asked, "Any news come in that was worth hearing about?"

"In truth, nah, nothing much really, but as I always say 'if it isn't worth hearing...'"

"'We're not going to hear about it.' Yes, I know, it's one of the many advantages of staying in this geographical anomaly. But in all seriousness, you haven't heard anything?"

"Nothing solid, just some rumours, an assignation attempt here, and increase in noodle prices there. Oh and allegedly there's to be an increase in crime in the north, some new crime lord or something another. Doubtlessly a load of rubbish!"

"My, my sounds exciting" said Sutherland disinterestedly, blankly eating the remainder of his noodles. He winced suddenly, clutching his head in pain, and began to breathe rapidly. Huan remained unfazed, she was used to these "episodes" by now, he had them rather frequently, a by-product of the drink she assumed. Looking up at her, his pupils wide, "Huan, a handbill declaring a bounty on said crime lord arrived, did it not?"

"I received some letters this morning, but I've not checked them yet. I don't see why…"

"Check them please!" He said through gritted teeth. She hated it when he was like this; there were occasions in his inebriated state when he could be truly terrifying often arising from seemingly random occurrences during which she regarded him with an air of pity and trepidation equally. Upon seeing the display, the snow leopardess who up until that point had been quietly eating noodles of her own, bared a tactical retreat upstairs to her room. The boar on the other hand, remained asleep in the corner.

After briefly searching the pile of the morning's mail, she found the handbill regarding the reward for the criminal's apprehension. "Here we are" she said, unrolling the scroll and reading aloud the first segment, "'Reward for the capture or killing of the fearsome bandit leader know only to authorities by the alias…'"

"The Rat Prince of Crime" finished Sutherland.

"Yeah, that's him, you know him or something?"

"Indeed I do not" he stated before adding under his breath, " _Not yet anyway!_ "

"Then why the sudden interest?" she queried, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Would you let me see it?" he asked, leaning across the bar and flailing an outstretched arm in her direction. She gently placed the scroll into his hands which instantly snatched away, unfurling and looking upon the scroll himself. He had to admit the image upon the scroll was an accurate likeness to the image he had envisioned in his head moments earlier. Black fur, unusually pointed features, even for a rat, there was no mistaking him. _Crap._ Sutherland's breathing had returned to normal but he looked drained somehow as he weakly passed the scroll back to Huan.

"So, care to explain what that was all about?"

"Oh, I, erm… I'd heard someone mention his ridiculous alias the other day, and was intrigued to see if he had truly followed through and wore a crown with his outfit but it looks as though I've been greatly disappointed" He laughed dryly, coming off more as if trying to convince himself that the remark had been humorous. He sighed, "I fear I am in need of another drink."

"Are you sure that's wise with your current state?"

"Unquestionably"

Huan turned to the bar hopping off her stool once more to fetch another bottle of liquor, before turning back to him and saying, "That reminds me, before you run off again, due to the heavy snowfall yesterday some of the guttering has come loose and since you're a craftsman of sorts you could maybe take a look?" In truth the guttering had suffered very minor damage from the snow, a few slips here and there, she could have easily fixed it herself but she knew that he tended to consume less alcohol when he had something else to focus his attention upon. After his brief little episode earlier she felt the less he drank, the better as it certainly was doing nothing for his health and she couldn't help but feel bad for him in his suffering state, someone had to.

"Please Huan, guttering? Am I worth so little to you? Have I fallen so far in your standing? That the prospect of suggesting such a ludicrous action to me should have even crossed your mind tells me enough. I see now, Huan, I see this false pretence of friendship was merely to lure me in, promises of shelter and hospitality only to take advantage of my generous nature so as to help you with such mundane tasks as repairing the guttering, how very droll indeed!"

"I'll call in the rent money you owe me for the room and board…"

"Guttering you say? Intriguing!" He slid the empty bowl back along the bar to her before getting up and heading to the door. He made it about five steps before his knees buckled causing him to collapse to the floor, again clutching his head. He recovered swiftly this time and was on his feet within moments and to the untrained observer it would have merely looked like a small stumble. "Huan?" he called, "Do we have someone in the back room?"

"I think I saw someone go in a while ago" she said slightly taken aback by his bizarre question.

Sutherland quickly averted course heading for the back room, rather ironically named the VIP section. Nothing about it seemed to dictate luxury, the walls themselves were infamous for letting in the most of the cold air in the whole building, many of the wall hangings and coverings were in serious disrepair and crumbling, much of the paint in the room was flaking off. All illumination in the room emanated from the one small lamp in the centre which threw long shadows across many of the corners. Sutherland shuddered at the thought of the many unsavoury dealings and unlawful activities which must have transpired within the room over the years. It was a very specific clientele who travelled half way up a mountain to sit in a dingy, rotting space in the back of a bar, and now in the end he was one such person. When entering the room he quickly scanned for any sign of his target and spotted her quickly, sitting a way off from the lamp, allowing her to be cast in shadows making only her silhouette visible against the external light. He could still make out her curved horns and squat figure though, downright proving his intuition.

"I had a vision that you would be here" said Sutherland to the darkened figure.

"Strange" she replied, "I had a vision of you having a vision that I would be here!"

"Ergh, enough, you know I care little for your ridiculous talk it's far too early for that sort of thing!" There was a seat opposite her but he didn't take it, for one he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of him lending any credence to the conversation, and for another the whole situation was making him agitated so he continued to pace the room with the demeanour of an institutionalised lion.

"It pains me to see you like this."

"Ha, a lie." He scoffed, slumping into a seat across the room from her, sitting side on se he didn't have to look her in the face.

"You know, I'm not as cold and heartless as you like to think me as. Then, if you must have it your way, I am also upset by the fact you chose to sit here squandering your power…"

"Ah, so here we arrive at the crux of the matter."

"You could have been great! You powers could have exceeded exponentially beyond ours! Your natural ability in telepathy and clairvoyance was higher than any we had ever encountered previously"

"The key word there being 'could.' You see my natural proficiency as some sort of gift! A blessing! You get to choose when to glimpse into the future or the mind of another, with me, it comes at random! Hundreds of voices crying out within my head at once, dictating what is, what was and what might or might not be! It's no gift, its chaos, its torture!" He had risen from his seat at this point and now stood in the centre of the room glaring at her, clenching and unclenching his fists, caws digging into the palms of his paws.

"And yet, I suspect of all those voices you hear, the one you fear the most is your own."

"Ha, what makes you arrive at that ludicrous conclusion?"

"As your mentor, I know exactly what your mind is capable of sustaining and as for the chaos part, it's no secret that that's something you're partial to, shall we say, on occasion. Yes, I think you fear yourself, you know you possess great power but are afraid of what you, or another would do with it."

"Like what happened to you with Shen?" He said coldly, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes…" she said lowering her head and sighing softly. "I did not say that your fears were unwarranted, but with your powers that particular situation could have been far worse."

"Undoubtedly, but I sense you did not come here to discuss past events and philosophy…" he said, finally moving over to take the seat in front of her. "I hope."

"Thankfully not, I have come here to inform you that you will be undergoing further training."

"We've talked about this, I unquestionably refuse any…"

"I'm afraid you are going to have little choice in the matter."

"Are you… Are you threatening to kidnap me right now? Is that what's happening?" he said, casting a worried glance to the entranceway behind him, shuffling in his seat slightly.

"Heavens no, think of this as a warning, this is by no means 'training' in the conventional sense. I have foreseen that this undertaking will either destroy you or make you more powerful than you could have ever imagined."

"It's good to see that even after all these years you still haven't lost your flair for the dramatic, old friend, but, if you would for a moment, allow me to respond in kind" He rose from his seat, placed his hands clasped behind his back, straightened his posture and cleared his throat, "'Send in the clowns' they said" he pontificated, with hyperbolic flair, while walking in the direction of the door. "By all means try it but do be prepared for the mass of blood and red noses, for I am in no mood for such twisted capers!"

He had reached his designation of the doorway back to the front area of the bar but before he could make his exit, the goat called to him, "It is good that you have retained your veritably sadistic sense of humour over the years, Sutherland, I fear you may require it for your coming trial."

"Oh, I do look forward to it" he said, rolling his eyes as he did so. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a very important liaison with some guttering that urgently needs my attention! _Au Revoir_ , old friend!"

And with that he vanished out of the doorway leaving the old goat alone in the dark and dingy room, she briefly questioned herself as to why she had come, he had listened to her caution and left no more prepared than he was previously, seemingly as if he didn't believe her. This was untrue, of course, he knew, whether he chose to accept it or not was a different matter. In the past they had had their disagreements and arguments and falling outs, but deep down she truly did wish to see him succeed, and so, was left with an empty feeling in her heart as she hoped that the parting which had just taken place would not be their final one.

 **A Good Day to Author Note: So what did you all think of this chapter? Technically the first I ever wrote for this story, but thought I should do a little intro scene first before throwing OCs at you. Before I forget again (like I did last chapter) I'd like to thank everyone for the nice reviews, I assume the ones in Spanish are nice, I wouldn't know right enough, but anyway, thanks guys so glad a lot of you seem to be enjoying it thus far! On and this story just hit 1,000 views, I know it's perhaps not the most accurate reading or the most impressive, but let me have this damn it! And think, in years to come we'll all look back at this as we reach the next great milestone: 1,005 views!**

 **I'll be seeing you beautiful people next chapter! ;)**


	6. Aftermath

**Author Note: March? Never heard of it! I apologise for the late upload, but you don't want to read about that here, enjoy the chapter.**

In a Burning Heart: Chapter VI, Aftermath

Tigress awoke with her head aching, a throbbing pain as if she had consumed an excess of alcohol the previous day. Her dehydrated state led her to believe she had been out for some time, no longer than a few hours she hoped, in an attempt to save face. A quick glance around told her that she was in Po's room, the drawn curtains making it difficult for her to get her bearings at first, with only a few glowing blades of golden sunlight cutting through the otherwise pitch black room, leading her to assume it was, at best, early morning the following day. Captivated for a moment by the small particles of dust being spectacularly illuminated by the sunbeams, dancing across the room in a mesmerising light show, a strange shape across the room caught Tigress's attention. Her eyes still blurry, she tried to pull herself up in bed to get a better view, unfortunately her wounded arm buckled awkwardly before she could haul herself up leading to her flopping back down painfully, although the excess adrenaline produced from the stinging did help bring some clarity to her vision as she realised that the unusual mass was in fact an amalgamation of the sleeping forms of both Master Monkey and Po, each employing some uncharacteristically stealthy napping techniques considering their usual habits. Using her uninjured arm to prop herself up slightly to gain a better view of the unconscious duo she noticed that Po had wrapped his arms around Monkey like he was some sort of cuddly toy and in turn Monkey had spread his arms across Po using him as a giant fluffy pillow, both were letting out soft breaths in an oddly rhythmic fashion, a small smile grew across Tigress's face due to their almost sickeningly cutesy antics.

"They make an adorable couple, don't they?" came a voice from Tigress's side. She attempted to turn her head to see who it was but, again lost her balance and landed painfully on her back once more. As he poked his head over the side of the bed she recognised the sleek, slender figure of Crane, appearing somewhat naked without his hat which remained unusually absent from his head "Sorry" he began, "I didn't mean to..."

Tigress silenced him with a wave of a paw before adding, without a great deal of conviction, "Its fine Crane, there's no problem." She tried squirming around so she could look at him when she was speaking but this action caused a sharp pain to run along her injured leg.

Tigress concealed it admirably however must have given off some small tell as it seemed to jog Crane's memory prompting him to instantly responded with, "The Mayor had his personal doctor come in and take a look at you, by way of thanks for saving his life, a fact which he reminded us of relentlessly, he suggested that you try to keep exertion to a minimum for the next few days..." Crane hesitated a moment expecting some response of indifference from Tigress, when none came he continued, "But the good news is the cuts were relatively clean, and the good doctor assured me that there wouldn't be any scarring."

"Brightening the day as usual Master Crane." Muttered Tigress, a little too loud to be entirely inaudible.

"What was that?"

"Where are Masters Mantis and Viper?" Tigress shot back, swiftly changing the subject.

"They're talking with the mayor at the moment, frankly he seems almost amused by the entire incident, and I suppose it shows him in a good light amongst the populace, walking away from such an event. Although, as I mentioned, he isn't shy of including your involvement."

"Speaking of involvement, what was the reason for your absence last night?" Tigress questioned, perhaps with unnecessary harshness.

"I... Ah... I thought you'd get to that sooner or later... I'm not sure what you were aware of but outside the palace there was a rather large explosion around the time of the attack, I feared it may be another of Shen's weapons however, there was only splinters left of whatever caused it. The palace wall was undamaged but I felt it best to stay in the area, chunks of wood had shot out in all directions, there were several wounded villagers and I tried to help the guards as best I could... The whole time it never occurred to me that there would be an attack from the inside..." Crane fell silent, looking somewhat uneasy.

"You can't blame yourself, brother, you did what you thought was best at the time, as you said yourself, you couldn't have known what was actually going on."

"But I should have…" replied Crane with great sadness and concern, and a slight wavering in his voice. "If anything happened to you or the rest of the five because of me, I have no idea what I'd do…"

"You can't think like that Crane, especially not at a moment like this. You've done nothing wrong; your intentions were only to help others. You can't place problems beyond any of our control solely on your shoulders; I'm in the unique position to tell to you, it's not good for your health." Tigress paused a moment to let out a small laugh at her own joke, when Crane gave no response she continued, "What I'm trying to say is, you've never let me, or any of us, down before and should you ever, I will be the first to let you know."

Crane remained silent for a while but appeared less stressed, visually at least. Tigress was certainly not known for her expertise in giving pep talks, but that at least clarified that whenever she dared venture into such uncharted territory it was only with the utmost sincerity. Crane took in a sharp intake of breath and let out a long sigh, as if he was about to say something, but had given up partway through the thought.

Fearing her friend would dwell on the previous issue for too long, Tigress supposed it better to change the subject quickly, "I assume we haven't been able to get anything out of the 'assassins' yet?"

Crane snapped out of his self-pitying trance, although didn't say anything, somehow, in a miraculous betrayal of his anatomy, widening and rolling his eyes in tandem as a response.

"What?" Tigress asked, confused, feeling that there must have been something obvious she was missing to provoke such a reaction from Crane.

"It's… not as if they haven't said anything per say, its more that they haven't shut up since we captured them, well half of them haven't shut up. Despite this though, everything they're saying is complete drivel, I listened to them for a while and, I won't lie, it was certainly an enlightening experience…"

"Learn anything that could help us find out who sent them?"

"Absolutely nothing, but I now know the exact volume of blood which exits the body of a seventy kilogram sun bear after having its throat cut."

"Ah, I see…"

"And about every curse word that ever existed in about three different languages."

"Yes, I think…"

"And their mother's recipe for dumpling soup."

"That's enough Crane, I get the idea. You should try again later, this time take Po with you; he has a unique way of communicating with others, I've seen him talk to some of the most feral outlaws out there like they were long lost brothers… failing that if anyone can out-talk someone it's him"

"I'll try but he's been pretty adamant about not leaving your side" Crane said, giving the sleeping Po a sideways glance. "I'm not sure he's going to like the idea of abandoning you for the sake of helping me."

"I'll be fine, I've taken a lot worst in my time; I just need to rest for a bit, Po should know that by now. Tell him I don't want him using my injuries as an excuse for him to mope around here doing nothing all day."

"Seems a bit harsh perhaps…"

"He wouldn't know it was from me otherwise!" Tigress said, adding on another small laugh, one which Crane thankfully returned this time. "I'm sorry Crane, but I'd like to see if I could rest up a bit more, I you wouldn't mind…"

"Oh, of course not" He said with a smile, turning to collect his hat. However, before leaving he turned back, "Thank you Tigress, I know of few others who would have spoken with me as plainly as you did."

"Any time, brother, any time." Tigress replied quietly before drifting off back into a dreamless slumber.

Nuo Wong was rather content with the dungeon, as far as means of incarceration go anyway. Simple shackles held them close to the wall at the far end of the cell, she wasn't being suspended by her ankles or, worse still, completely immobilised, undoubtedly the guards felt that being imprisoned next to her sibling would be as gruelling a habitat as any. With things being as they were, she took this as a small mercy; her sister however was not so pleased with their conditions and was not shy of voicing her feelings about it.

"Is this the best you can do? We broke into you're oh-so-precious impenetrable fortress and this is all you have for us?!" Niu yelled hoarsely at the thick wooden door.

Nuo knew at this point that there was no point in trying to tell her sister to save her breath, so instead was intent on saving her own.

"Tai Lung got thrown in a cave prison, surrounded by hundreds of guards and what did he do!? Be ambiguously evil?! We very nearly killed your mayor and we're stuck in here in last month's shade of chains?!" Niu spat again at the closed door and flailing her arms angrily, by this point Nuo was sure that there was no one guarding it at this point, perhaps, somewhat backwardly, taking any length of prolonged silence as a sign that something was amiss.

"You all think you're pretty tough, easy to beat me up while my arms are chained behind me, how about you come in here, and then we'll see who the real tough guy is!" She went on as if to say more but all that came out was a low growl...

Nuo had to admire her sibling's bravery at times, here they were: she, relatively unscathed, and after all that had happened, relatively unharmed, and Niu having taken a beating from both the tiger, the monkey and a handful of guards had a covering of swollen bruises visible beneath her fur and small flecks of dried blood matted other areas, but it was her face in particular that showed the most damage following a brief interrogation session by the guards, blood had been slowly trickling down her split lip and the tigers' decisive blow the previous day, had left a painful, swollen dark ring around her eye. It is often said that there's a thin line between bravery and stupidity, Niu however seemed to transcend both such categories, in her sister's opinion, and came across more as an embodiment of sheer willpower, for, a denoted by her clammy and pale pallor, she clearly wasn't getting the energy from any other source. Truly an undeniable force of nature, albeit one that was currently chained to a wall.

Niu suddenly let out a long pained sigh, "We're in a sorry state aren't we, sister?"

"True, but I'd say you'd be in a better one if you'd stop spouting clichés for a few minutes." Nuo said with a scoff.

"Can't waste all the good material on these morons" she replied motioning toward the door with her head and added with a laugh, "Saving it for when someone important shows up!"

"Any good one-liners for when we inevitably get our heads lopped off?"

"Always the pessimist sister, we've gotten out of worse situations!"

"Really, care to name a few?"

"When we were down south, remember? We were hired to torch the town garrison, which succeeded at splendidly; it was the following day when they caught up with us in the forest that wasn't so splendid…"

"Ah yes, the first time we were ever sentenced to death, how could I forget…" Nuo said sarcastically.

"But we're still here aren't we sister? This is not the first certain death situation we've gotten ourselves into, and I'm sure it won't be the last."

"I wish I could share your positivity, sister, I truly do, but I'm afraid it'll take more than Dad's advice to get us out of this one."

""If you're to be hanged, ask for water. Anything can happen before they fetch it." Yeah, I suppose this place isn't going to burn down like the last one…" Niu said vacantly; laughing sadly, but genuinely. Nuo couldn't help but return her sisters sombre laugh.

Nuo's ears suddenly pricked up hearing the sound of a few familiar voices from the outside of their cell, the first two she placed as the pair if guards who had been posted outside, the third she identified as the bird master who had been sent to interrogate them earlier, however the final voice seemed harder to place...

Po wasn't pleased. He was largely miffed at Crane for not wakening him up when Tigress came to, but more so when he was dragged off to the dungeon and couldn't look after his injured friend, although he did feel a great deal of pride that she would consider him up to the task. That and he was terrified at what she would do if she woke up and found him still waiting there, she really did hate being doted over even when she very much needed it, but he still knew better than to defy a direct order from her. The trip to the dungeon was completed in silence, Crane already appearing to have given in to the futility of their current assignment, and after slowly becoming the decline into the lower levels, Po was beginning to hear why, a polyphony of shouting, with the volume of seemingly multiple people, however upon closer inspection it seemed to be only coming from one particular snow leopard.

On approach of the cell Po noticed two of the mayors guards both looking tired, with dark, bloodshot, sleep deprived eyes, although he assumed it would have been impossible to relax with such a din coming from the nearby cell. Upon seeing them approach, the guards simply nodded in response seemingly unable to perform any other kind of motor function.

"Master Crane and the Dragon Warrior here to speak with the prisoners" Crane said curtly as way of introduction.

"You're braver than I gave you credit for Master Crane, in saying that though, I didn't think anyone would have the stomach to return to this hellhole, never mind to talk to… that thing" said the older looking one on the right, with both guards exchanging a somewhat terrified looking glance.

While Crane was talking with the guards, Po took his chance to sneak a quick look at the prisoners, only to see the sorry state they were in. Peeking through the small viewing slot in the door he noticed that both looked pale and were covered in dirt and grime from the cell itself, but it was the loudest of the pair, the one which had attacked Tigress, that seemed the worst for wear, covered in misshapen lumps and dried blood, difficult to determine if it was her own or someone else's. In theory, Po should have been angry upon looking at the creature that had wounded Tigress so severely, but he could only feel pity for the battered leopard.

"Eh, sorry to interrupt guys," Po said hesitantly to the guards who were still talking with Crane. "But have the prisoners been fed at all today? They're looking a bit out of it, especially the loud one, has she had those head wounds looked at?"

Again, the guards exchanged a look but this time it was one of confusion. This time it was the turn of the younger of the guards to respond as he spun to look at Po, "I'm not sure I quite follow you Dragon Warrior, sir, this pair are known killers and we were treating them as such."

"So I'm taking that as a 'no' then?" replied Po becoming slightly, arguably unjustifiably, irritated.

"I don't know how you do things where you're from, but in this city we treat criminals like the detritus they are!" replied the young guardsman, growing equally irate.

The older guardsman, upon seeing the situation escalate, placed a paw on the shoulder of his younger associate, "Apologies Dragon Warrior, forgive the young one, he means no offense, he's simply passionate about keeping the city safe." He said, finishing with a short bow.

Crane, responding in kind, quickly swept over to Po's positioning himself between the pair who were currently staring daggers into one another, "No offense taken, sergeant, it's been a long couple of days. If you'll excuse us we'll head in and talk to the prisoners now."

"Very well, good luck Master Crane, Dragon Warrior" the sergeant responded added another small bow.

Po broke off his staring competition with the young guardsman as Crane turned him to face the wooden door to the cell, which had gone ominously quietly, possibly due to the heated conversation which had taken place outside. Crane quickly place his eye up to the thin viewing slot to check the inmates were still in their places before sliding open the bolts holding the heavy wooden door locked in place. With some effort, Po pushed it open with a loud sound of the rusted metal in the hinges scraping against one another, resulting in an eerie screech reverberating around the small room. A foul stench filled the air which escaped from the cell, a sickly mixture of perspiration, the metallic odour of dried blood and the horrific aroma of a variety of several other bodily fluids. Crane slipped in as Po stepped across the threshold behind him, closing the door behind him sealing them inside the dingy little room, illuminated only by a small candle set into the wall and a few shafts of light coming from a miniscule barred window set high in the cell, a few centimetres below the roof. The dual light sources casting strange elongated, flickering shadows across much of the entrance of the cell. Both prisoners sat in the darkened end, they're squat

"Stick legs, I explicitly said I didn't want to see you here again, your pointy face makes me... squeamish" Niu said upon seeing Crane enter the cell, he seemed about to retort but Niu cut in before he got the chance. "Oh, but I see you've brought the handsome Dragon Warrior with you!" She said almost too excitedly but without any hint of sarcasm. "Mighty warrior are you here to rescue this fair maiden from this squalid dungeon?" She said with hyperbolic grandeur, widening her eyes towards Po.

Crane gave Po a half expectant, half bemused look, eager to hear his reply. "Um... No... Not exactly" Po replied slowly.

"Wow, disappointing."

"But I can help you help yourself..." Po responded quickly, trying to rescue any chance at a conversation. "But I'm going to need your cooperation."

"Anything for you, good looking!" She said with a small smile and a wink.

Quite taken aback for a moment, Po hesitated giving the leopard an odd look before continuing, "I'll start off with the simple ones, I know who you are now, both of you" he said sparing a glance for the silent Nuo who gave a soft grunt in response, "so my question is, who hired you?"

Niu pretended to ponder the question for a few moments, "Weird, they didn't leave a name, but then, hey, who am I to judge what's weird?"

Po sighed, "Did they happen to say why they were after the mayor in particular?"

"I didn't think it'd be polite to ask."

Choosing to not even acknowledge her useless response Po continued uninterrupted and asked, "How much did they pay you for such a high profile job?"

"Evidently not enough, if you ask me, right sis?"

Nuo remained silent.

"Are you going to take any of my questions seriously?" A somewhat impatient and slightly irate Po replied.

"You're really cute when you're fishing for information, has anyone told you that before?" Niu said innocently tilting her head and smiling sweetly, oblivious to Po's previous question.

Nearing what felt like the edge of his patience, Po instead turned his attention to the much more respected Wong sister. Nuo say against the wall, allowing her head to hung low in front of her body, she could have easily been sleeping through the whole conversation, were it not for the fact that her eyes remained opened.

Po knelt down in front of her, forcing their eyes to meet, "Let me just start this by saying your bow thing is so cool and when you did that hanging from the ceiling thing? Crazy awesome!"

"Don't even try it, Panda." Nuo replied, perfectly monotone and neutral.

"What?!" replied Po, astounded that she'd pre-emptively shut down any line of questioning.

"I said, don't even try it, unbelievable as it may sound, I heard that entire conversation that was happening no less than a meter away from me and have nothing further to add."

"You must have something? Anything that could help?" Po pleaded.

"I've been running this over in my head for a while and I'm afraid this whole situation is lose-lose in our favour."

"How do you figure?" Po said, trying not to seem too eager now that he was finally getting something from the would-be assassin.

"We stay here, tell you nothing, we're dead, conversely, we tell you everything you let us go, again, we're dead."

"If that's truly the case then what have you got to lose by telling us anything?"

"He makes a good point, sis!" Niu suddenly piped in.

"Bird, kindly punch my sibling in the mouth for me, I would do it myself if I wasn't otherwise indisposed."

"Yeah, stick legs, punch me in the face, but don't blame me if you lose a couple of those wing feathers!" Niu said, laughing manically and gnashing her teeth frantically.

Turning his attention away from the giggling Wong twin, Po, looked back to Nuo, "How can you be so sure you're done for either way?"

"Let's just say the employers in this business aren't exactly well known for giving out health benefits…"

"And what about just staying here, what makes you think that's not an option?"

"I'm sure you will have heard that the mayor of this city is a real softie when it comes to crime, right? If you need any more evidence care to gaze upon my sister's ugly mug, looking perhaps even more so than usual. You don't honestly think that's all the work of your little tiger friend?"

"I won't lie, Dragon Warrior, my sister speaks the truth… I do usually look much better than this; I guess we all have bad days, huh? Not you though, bet you're just naturally that good looking!"

"Umm, thanks?" Po said confused at how he was supposed to respond to a comment like that.

There were a few moments of silence as the four of them seemed uninterested in saying anything further, simply exchanging glances between one another, each trying to prompt a response, with the exception of Nuo who seemed content to return to staring at the ground. Finally reaching the end of his tether, Crane placed a wing on Po's shoulder and said quietly, "Come Po, I think we've got all we're ever going to get from these two." With that he swiftly turned to leave and began to head for the door.

A second later, Po rose from his kneeling position with a large sigh and got ready to leave, but just before he joined Crane at the doorway, he heard a voice from behind, "Listen, Panda, I heard what you said outside," Nuo began, glaring at him from across the cell. "I will let you know now that I don't find your concern for us touching in the slightest, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't respect you for it. In short, you are a good person, so that's why I'm telling you this, it's not a name, it's not a description nor is it a location, it's a warning, plain and simple, as the phrase goes, 'let sleeping dogs lie' walk away now Dragon Warrior, you've foiled the assassination, saved the day, now go home and play the hero. Because if you don't, if you look into this further, I can assure you that you're going to be dealing with some truly major players in a game you cannot even comprehend the existence of, so if you truly wish to look after those you care about, family, friends, perhaps a certain little Tiger, you'll let this whole thing die with us."

"Thanks for the advice," Said Po turning to leave the room as Crane heaved the cell door open, filling the room with the familiar screech. "But I'm afraid I can't take you up on it." He turned to grab the heavy cell door to heave it shut, but felt the need to add, "And that 'little Tiger' you keep referring to, she's more than capable of taking care of herself!" he finished before slamming the door shut.

"Wow, what rattled his cage?" Niu questioned genuinely perplexed as she hadn't been listening for a large part of the previous exchange. "Damn, should have used that one when I was talking to the bird!"

"I'll tell you when you're older, sister" Nuo said shaking her head and letting out a deep sigh. "But I truly hope he's right."

Crane stopped again to talk with the two guards at the cells, whereas Po quickly hurried off. He felt himself suddenly at a loss after their conversation with the twins. It had unfortunately left him with more questions than answers namely as to just who these shadowy puppeteers orchestrating the whole operation were. As the Dragon Warrior, he liked to think that such people were becoming fewer and fewer across China, evils so great that they could strike fear into the hearts of a pair of hardened assassins. Further to that, he would like to think the mayor, being a strong figurehead against such criminals in the area would have some idea to who was responsible, although he wasn't going to lie to himself, however, he knew his grasp of current politics left much to be desired, on the other hand his morals, much like he himself, were solely black and white, good and evil. To complicate matters any further made his head hurt, although he did believe that a good person could do an evil thing, after all everyone makes mistakes; that was something he could account for personally.

Furthermore, much as he disliked admitting it, Nuo had been right about one thing. He and The Five had completed their mission, the mayor was still breathing and there was certainly no doubt that they would be heralded as hero's by the people of Wuxi city for many months to come. That could very certainly be the end of events, but something burned in the back of Po's mind; the fact that Nuo had told him to get out of there very strongly suggested that there was something else on the way. As to what this something was however? He had no idea. So, as he found himself often doing even more in recent times, he navigated through the palace heading back upstairs, although not before stopping by the kitchen first, towards his room, hoping that his feline friend would be awake.

Arriving at his former chambers, if he could call them that he'd used them so little, he slowly turned the handle, cracking the door only slightly allowing him to slip in without causing too much of an uproar. Upon entering the room, he found it slightly dimmer than before, possibly due to the now overcast sky blotting out the bright rays of sun which had entered the room earlier. Mustering all his training and concentration, Po tiptoed at an almost glacial pace across the bare floorboards so as not to rouse Tigress, taking extra care to avoid even the slightest of squeaks. About a good five minutes into his "stealth mode", Po had successfully taken a grand total of three steps, when he decided to risk a glance at the bed... Which was empty...?

A sudden panic overtook him as he clumsily slid the small basket of dumplings he'd fetched from the kitchen into the table and bounded tactlessly toward the bed in the centre of the room. Confirming it's vacancy made him feel even worse, the ending of his previous conversation with the more resigned Wong sister swiftly returning to the back of his mind; was this what she was talking about? Casting his eyes rapidly across the room he noticed that there appeared to be no signs of a struggle, everything was pretty much where it was when he'd left what felt like only a few moments ago, all except for Monkey… Had someone taken him too? Even Po, mind racing, doubted that, the palace was still indeed a fortress, perhaps more so after last night's events, so the chances of someone breaking in were slim enough, the chances of someone hauling both Tigress and Monkey out of there seemed impossible. Just then however, a strong breeze slapped the side of Po's face and a flash of movement caught his eye for a millisecond, he froze, hoping as if by some miracle whatever was moving about in there would mistake him for part of the furniture. He remained still for some time, an impressive feat by his standards; he didn't hear any further movements and almost concluded that his mind was playing tricks with him, until he caught sight of another brief flash, catching more of it than he had previously, a flash of white fabric. His mind instantly shot back to his battles with Lord Shen, but concluded almost as spontaneously that the peacock certainly wouldn't be back troubling him, especially with him being, shall we say, a more permanent member of the spirit world, that and Shen was never much one for subtlety. With the situation becoming unbearable and a combination of realising that standing in the centre of a room doing nothing wasn't really getting him anywhere and that with every moment he spent standing peering into a dark room Tigress could be getting into more and more distress, Po swallowed and turned to face whatever creature was lurking behind him.

Crouched in a full combat stance, Po traced every area of the far end of the room, wall to wall, followed by ceiling to floor and found absolutely nothing; no vicious assassins, no giant warriors, no murderous peacocks, absolutely naught. Perhaps he was going mad, perhaps the stench from the cell earlier had knocked him out cold and this was all some sort of twisted nightmare. Thankfully, Po's sanity returned to him with the return of the gust of cold air, acting as a form of lubrication for the gears in his mind as he slowly pieced things together, that and the white curtains surrounding the door to the balcony fluttered gently in the breeze. Po cursed himself for wasting so much time, truly it was his greatest battle yet: Dragon Warrior and his imagination vs an empty room. Regaining his sense of urgency now that the immediate threat was dealt with, he took off toward the door, hoping that there was something, anything, that could give him a clue to Tigress's whereabouts, very nearly hauling the slightly ajar balcony door from its hinges as he wrenched it open and dived out into the cold northern air.

Unexpectedly, however, instead of stepping outside into the middle of some sort of elaborate kidnapping scene, Po instead found himself staring at the familiar striped figure of his friend. Tigress, now dressed back in her usual attire, was leaning against the railing of the balcony with her uninjured arm allowing the other to hang loosely at her side, gazing of to some incomprehensible spot in the distance. Upon seeing her, Po let out a huge sigh of relief as he went through a trifecta of emotion all at once, first relief and then gladness followed swiftly by concern. She didn't seem to notice him as he approached, or heard his sigh previously, not bothering to announce his presence or to construct any lead in chatter, Po simply jumped straight in with. "Tigress, what are you doing out here? Didn't you listen to the doctor? You should be resting."

Normally, Tigress would have hated any attempt, or anything she would have perceived as an attempt, to coddle her in even the slightest way, but from Po's voice she could here he was being completely sincere. "When have you ever known me to listen to any kind of medic Po?" she asked rhetorically, with a slight smile. "I'm fine, honestly."

To any onlooker, what Tigress had said would have appeared perfectly true, aside from the bandage that was wrapped around her arm; she did appear to be in perfect health. To Po however, it was a different story, he'd spent hours unapologetically watching her train, fight and doing pretty much everything, so much so that he could tell that from her currently awkward stance that her leg was incredibly painful, simply because if it wasn't to the point where it was physically impairing her, Tigress wouldn't have let on. "Tigress, look," he said, leaning on the railing next to her, so that he could look at her side on, "you're the toughest person I know, but even you need time to recover, plus the cold out here can't be doing you any good!"

"The same thing I told Crane and Monkey earlier still applies, Po, I know how hard I can push and I know how hurt I am. You can all stop fretting over me, I can look after myself." It had come out slightly more hostile than she intended as she all but glared at the unspecified point in the distance.

Po sighed, "I'm not trying to deny that, what I'm trying to say is… maybe sometimes you don't have to, and that's why I'm here, and I'm worried about you, because I know you won't worry about yourself…"

Tigress turned to face Po with a slow drawn out motion, he assumed she'd instantly be angry at him but instead just stared at him silently for a few moments. Po responded in kind, looking deep into her bright, scarlet eyes catching a glimpse of something he'd never seen in her before, weakness seemed like a cruel word to describe it, perhaps a tenderness that he'd seldom ever seen beneath her cold and collected exterior. Apparently feeling his deep gaze entering a part of her she felt uncomfortable confronting, Tigress abruptly turned, breaking their eye contact and faced out over the city once again. "Did you get any further information from the prisoners?" she asked swiftly, as means of both changing the subject and to prevent Po from questioning any further.

Po remained silent for a few stunned moments as his brain tried in anguish to process the last part of the conversation. "Uhhh, nothing really, some cryptic mumbo jumbo, and I think the crazy one keeps trying to hit on me…" Tigress made a peculiar noise somewhere between a scoff and a growl. "But honestly? I think they're scared, Tigress."

"Oh, I am sure they're terrified!" Tigress said not even bothering to hide her sarcasm.

"But you should have seen them, they looked so…"

"I have an arm and a leg which are equal proof of don't dish out what you can't take" Tigress said flatly, waving her bandaged arm at him.

"Yeah, I get that they're bad guys but…"

"Po, have I ever told you that one of your major faults is that you're too nice? They're trying to take advantage of that, remember they kill people for a living, they will try and lie or swindle their way out of any situation, don't fall for their nonsense, you're smarter than that, Po."

Po was about to retort, but when he thought on it for a moment perhaps she was right, maybe he was being too naïve. He also felt strangely proud of Tigress's little backhanded compliment to him, almost inexplicably so. "I guess…" he began hesitantly, "But it still doesn't bring us any closer to finding out who's behind this whole thing."

"That is true…" Agreed Tigress with a small nod, but then added, "Although that never seems to be a problem with you, put you anywhere and China's greatest villains just seem to throw themselves at you, quite literally" She let a small smile creep across her face.

"It is just another of my awesome Dragon Warrior powers: bad guy magnet" Po said with hyperbolic magnificence, laughing as he did so.

Tigress continued to quietly survey the area looking out over the city thoughtfully. "I think I might actually miss this place, it has been a nice change of scenery from the valley." She said, seemingly more to herself than to Po.

"Yeah, it is pretty cool…"

"In more ways than one!" Tigress mumbled cheerily, smiling at the panda's unintentional joke, "Perhaps we could come back someday?"

Po's mind flashed back once again to his conversation in the cell, "I'd maybe be careful what you wish for" it sounded strained as he tried to keep a jovial smile on his face. It was masked, thankfully, as his stomach rumbled, reminding him both of the dumplings he'd brought for Tigress and that he himself hadn't yet eaten that day. "I completely forgot, I brought you some dumplings, y'know, if you're hungry…"

"Not particularly…" she responded, raising an eyebrow with a smile, "But I could hear that you are. Let's go."

Po turned to head back inside as she did the same, however as she pushed off from the railing, she felt her wounded leg give way again, knowing that using her wounded arm to prop herself up would be futile, she braced once again for the fall. Much to her surprise however, it never came, and she found herself centimetres from the floor, cradled in Po's arms, he was certainly a lot faster than she remembered. "I knew it!" he said, looking down at her, his voice an equal mixture of anger and concern. At this point she was pleased he hadn't caught her hobbling out there in the first place.

"Thanks Po" she nodded, "If you'd give me a hand up I'll be…"

"Oh no you don't!" He said sternly, "C'mere" He gently pulled her in closer, and used one arm to support her back, while, taking extra care to avoid her injury, using the other to hold her legs, holding her in comfortable cradling position he cautiously started to carry her back inside. Apparently Po was also a lot stronger than she remembered him being, and as it turned out warm, very warm. Tigress was amazed by how much she'd been lying to herself when standing out on the balcony when she felt the heat emanating from Po's fur and unapologetically snuggled in closer to try and absorb more of the warmth. Po, for his part, was simply happy that his fur was so thick only now it wasn't only for the warmth, but to camouflage the deep blush which was now covering his face. Miraculously manoeuvring his way through the doorway and using his foot to close it behind him, it felt instantly warmer to be out of the cold, damp breeze and back into his room, he carried Tigress over to the bed and laid her down softly, trying not to catch either her arm or leg at a bad angle. Much to his astonishment he was not greeted by the fiery glare of her eyes burning into him for performing such an act but the sweet, contented smile of a sleeping tiger. Smiling to himself, he quietly and slowly wrapped a blanket around his sleeping friend and headed to the door of the room, almost forgetting his dumplings on the way out. He looked at the small basket which contained them, then back to the sleeping Tiger, and tiptoed back over to the bed leaving the dumplings on the table next to it, the basket would keep them at least lukewarm for a while and lukewarm dumplings were better than no dumplings. Making his way toward the door once again he turned back around to check one final time on Tigress, happy that she was finally getting some rest and perhaps seeing his as more than just a teammate, but before Po let himself get too disillusioned, he smiled and headed out the door, closing it silently behind him and heading, once more, for the kitchen.

 **Author Note: As I said, I'm very sorry this was up so late, generally due to a whole host of different reasons, including, but not limited to; Studying for Uni exams, doing Uni exams, marking Uni exams, fun health problems largely involving broken ribs, not being in the country, happy internet blackouts and the list goes on… But anyway that's enough of my moaning; hopefully it should be business as usual from this point on. Also, this chapter turned out really long, let me know if you prefer that, because the lowest viewed chapter at this point is chapter four, which also happens to be the longest or maybe people just don't like Billy Idol, I don't know so keep me posted. And, as always, feel free to launch some cold, unfiltered hatred at me through dropping a review or maybe even show some mercy and grace me with a favourite or, if you're really insane, you could even follow this rubbish!**

 **I won't tell if you don't, see you next chapter you glorious human being! ;)**


	7. Alone

**Author Note: Greetings, another chapter coming at you. I've been writing this while studying so if you come across some notes on the action of phosphofructokinase 2 mixed into this chapter please let me know, unless you're into that sort of thing…**

In a Burning Heart: Chapter VII, Alone

"Walking in the darkest places where the mission meets"

"Waiting for the ground to open up beneath my feet"

Early afternoon in the mountains was often the most quiet time, and today was no exception with seemingly no other soul for miles in all directions, disregarding those in the inn of course. Sutherland still had a bad taste in his mouth from his previous encounter with his former teacher, and after collecting some nails and a hammer set out immediately not specifically to fix the guttering but simply for something to take his mind off of the whole experience. He gave a silent nod to a concerned looking Huan on his way out, she could always tell when there was something bothering him, not just him, he corrected himself, she had a way with picking up on anyone's problems no matter how big or small or how well they thought they may be concealing them, she just had a way with people, "must just be an innkeeper thing" he thought to himself. Thankfully the weather seemed to be clearing up after the previous day's storm, the wind was still ravenous and the air biting cold but a lack of snow or rain or hail made visibility so much clearer and a lack of darkened clouds meant the day seemed far brighter; the sky now plastered with light grey clouds which seemed to meld with horizon, showing little distinction between the snow and ice covered peaks with small flecks of dark grey rocks protruding from beneath. He was never one for taking pleasure in the magnificence of views, but the marvellous vista of muted grey in front of him was definitely something he could work with, it was neither the bright optimistic bright, clear blue although, nor was it the ominous dark, thick black cloud which heralded the coming of storms, grey was unsure, indecisive and unpredictable, he liked that.

Upon closer inspection it was clear that the guttering had indeed taken an absolute battering the day before as bits of it lay strewn about the building, partially covered in snow, however all the piping appeared to be intact so it was simply a matter of nailing it back in place, something Sutherland believed he was more than capable of. Blowing a hot breath of hot air into his hands to improve his grip, an act that was done more in ceremony than for any real practical advantage he headed for the nearest piece of guttering tube imbedded in the snow. Clasping his hands around it like a young squire trying to remove the mighty Excalibur from the stone he heaved with all his might as it started to shift beneath him. Dragging the last few centimetres from the snow, he suddenly found himself off balance, falling backward and landing in the snow followed by the long section of pipe falling on top of him. He let out a yelp which was of a pitch most unbefitting of an animal his size and gender, holding up his arms and bracing for the impact. Realising that the smack to his face wasn't going to come, he hesitantly opened one eye and realised that the guttering perhaps hadn't been as heavy as he fist though as it was now nestled between his outstretched paws. He sighed deeply, chastising himself for his previous squeal, and after squirming awkwardly beneath the tubing he was soon back on his feet brushing snow from his jacket. A now damp and cold Sutherland began dragging the tube back to the house, cursing the name of a particular rabbit.

Huan's ear twitched slightly; did she just hear some sort of scream from outside? She shook her head, probably just her own mind playing tricks on her; she'd been up for a ridiculous amount of time, with only the odd nap stopping her from passing out completely. Returning her focus to a cup she'd been cleaning for what seemed like an eternity, she cast a quick eye over the room, all but empty, saving the old boar in his usual spot in the corner; it dawned on her that she didn't actually know his name, simply referring to him as "Sir" whenever she talked with him, although she did know all about him; a widower who had fathered no offspring sold his family business and left the town where he had spent all his life in order to explore the world's beauty before he became too infirm, a sad, yet somehow encouraging story, she liked to think. She prided herself on knowing of her residents' plights and troubles, where they came from and were going, not really to be invasive in any way, she just liked hearing of China from the perspectives of all who lived in it, good and bad, and also occasionally to lend a paw on any issues she could, an outside perspective often helped give many problems clarity. Turning her attention back to the boar, she also noticed he'd been sleeping a lot more recently and been eating less for the past week, possibly suggesting that this could be the final stop on his journey. An incredibly dark though, she cautioned herself, largely brought on by the emptiness of the room; hopefully business would pick up as the weather cleared into the spring months. The imperial messenger had taken off a while ago, probably carrying nothing more than love letters, but then again, Huan supposed, those **can** be important at times… She suddenly, again, found her mind wandering as she stared blankly across the room before focusing vacantly on the cup she still continued to polish in her hands, a strong wind from outside caused the wooden beams of the building to creak eerily as a shiver ran up from the base of Huan's spine, although it wasn't from cold… Looking up she saw an elderly goat standing in front of the bar before her, seemingly having materialised from nowhere, it was only years of training that stopped her from leaping backwards in fright but did nothing to cease the expansion of her pupils in surprise, not that the goat had startled her, more that someone had so deftly managed to sneak up on her; she cursed herself internally.

"I apologise, dear, I didn't mean to startle you like that." The elderly goat apologised with a small smile.

"Oh, don't worry, you didn't startle me" Huan tried to lie, through a forced smile, although must have been unsuccessfully as the goat raised her eyebrow knowingly. Huan glanced past the animal monetarily, the door to the VIP room was slightly ajar identifying the goat as Sutherland's mystery visitor, but why hadn't she heard it open? Pushing such unnecessary thoughts from her mind, she returned to a fully professional mode, asking politely, "Will you be needing a room for the evening, ma'am? We have several available."

"No, dear, I'm quite content to head back now." She responded with a chuckle.

"Perhaps some supplies, are you alright for food?" Huan questioned, fearing that she might miss out on the only business she'd get that day.

"An odd one that fox, what do you suppose his story is?"

Huan's brain took a moment to connect the dots as to who she was referring to, "Sutherland?" she questioned. "He doesn't really seem that comfortable talking about himself… Well, his past anyway."

"And why do you think that might be?"

Huan shrugged, "I'd say you'd be better answering that than me; you know him."

"Hmm, you are a smart one; I can see why he likes you."

The rabbit paused a moment, taken aback by what the goat had just said, "How do you know he likes me?"

"You're right, I have known him for years, and never so much as seen him look at a hammer, never mind actually using one to fix something for someone other than himself that is. But before you continue down this path, dear, you must ask yourself; do you truly know who he is?" with that the goat swiftly headed out of the door and seemingly vanished into the bright, snow covered hills.

Feeling an odd mixture of intrigue and confusion at the conversation she had just had, Huan quickly shook it off, she really didn't expect much else from an acquaintance of Sutherland's to be as vague and incomprehensible as he was; she briefly considered asking him about it later, but decided to cross that bridge when it came to it, giving he was probably going to be occupied outside for a while, leaving her to… she cast another eye over the all but empty bar letting out a sigh. It was unlikely that anyone else would show up today, it was just a quiet season and that wasn't helped by the weather clearing up, then an idea entered her head, causing her to smile widely. She quickly slid out from behind the bar and headed to her quarters upstairs; reaching under her cot she found a large trunk and opened it with a seemingly unnecessary reverence. Within the trunk was one of the few things which Huan had saved from her army days; her old uniform, as part of an elite ranger division, the base layer was made of a thick, dark green wool and was reinforced across the arms, chest and shins with thinly cut strips of bamboo. Granted, the whole affair did provide a much better camouflage when in a more wooded environment, not that of the pure white mountainside she currently found herself on, however she wasn't interested in it for any kind of practical combat application for the moment and the bamboo was equally light and suitably strong, plus easily replaced when damaged, making it preferable to steel. She quickly slipped out of her dress, sighing gently at relief of removing the tight article and swiftly slipped on her old uniform, particularly pleased that it still fit after all the years.

Huan stepped out of the tavern and took in a large breath of chilled late afternoon air, when was the last time she'd been outside? Her thoughts were interrupted by a rhythmic banging from the side of the building, signifying that Sutherland was still hard at work, a brief smile crossed her mind, pleased that he was still occupied with something other than sleeping, drinking or sulking. She then began heading up the pass toward the mountain's peak, a road certainly less travelled as it really didn't lead to anywhere of importance, to the regular traveller at least. What it did provide however, was some spectacular views, a huge host of various peaks pointing skyward crossed the horizon, melding white against grey in the afternoon sky. The obscured apex of Storm Peak appeared clearly, one of the closest to the current mountain, a mystery to many, the uppermost point of the mountain always seemed to be shrouded in a snowstorm no matter what the surrounding weather was, something many had long given up trying to understand years ago, regarding it simply as a natural phenomenon.

After breaking into a light jog to warm up, Huan made good time in her ascent, reaching her destination quicker than she had anticipated. Stopping to catch breath for a moment, the area she was in gave her a brilliant view down a particular section of the mountain range known simply as 'The Pass.' Attaining its name from an ancient campaign in which a general had intended to use it to cut days off of travel time and launch a surprise attack against the enemy. While in theory the plan was sound, 'The Pass' proved far more treacherous than anticipated, with shifting snow drifts and constant fears of avalanche, the general did indeed arrive days earlier than anticipated however, with less than half the men he set out with. Since then it was used only by the most foolhardy and unsavoury characters and a slogan regarding it was tossed about often by merchants and traders: 'Take 'The Pass' if you want to arrive quickly, take any other route if you want to arrive alive.' While foolish, it was in fact the will of the aforementioned general that had brought Huan her destination; an abandoned watchtower, one of many built across the peaks in fear of a counterattack from 'The Pass' but most of which had fallen into a sorry state of dilapidation. Huan had stumbled across the ruins of this one shortly after purchasing the tavern and swiftly set about, to the best her ability, turning it into an obstacle course… of sorts.

Catching her breath, Huan produced a small hourglass from her pocket, marked incrementally in minute segments. She collected herself, before turning it and starting off quickly towards the entrance to the watchtower, once inside she began the ascent, long bereft of stairs or ladders she had to rely purely on her acrobatic abilities and the few old wooden beams to find a way to the top. A short time later she completed her climb, breaking off a handful of icicles which hung from the partly destroyed roof, she began sliding down a section of roofing which gave a steep slide down the side of the tower, launching the shards of ice she had collected at a few makeshift wooden targets on her way down. Rolling to a stop as she reached the bottom of her descent, she was quickly back on her feet and sprinting toward the hourglass. Checking the time she realised that she was a good few minutes slower than her average. She cursed herself as she reset the sand, before running the course again. And again. _And again._ Shaving a minute or so following each run, the ancient beams in the tower creaking with her unrelenting vigour. During her seventh run, she collected her icicles and began her treacherous descent, hitting the first to targets with ease. A movement close by to the tower caught her peripheral vision and in her state of adrenalin fuelled training she instinctively launched one of her chunks of ice at it. It took her a few moments to realise what she had just done, and to conclude what the movement was.

The flowing white coat blending with immaculate white fur; undoubtedly Sutherland. She looked at his thin outline, framed by the pale glow of sun, expecting his perfectly postured body to slowly slump and fall, a look of surprise on his face, killed by the shard of ice she had undoubtedly just embedded in him. His permanently upright figure stumbled slightly before falling numbly sideways into the snow. Huan began sprinting over to him, tears beginning to stream heavily and involuntarily down her cheeks. Then she saw him; prone on the ground, his eyes lightly shut, it could have been easy to mistake him for sleeping, except he was impossibly still, although at first glance he appeared unharmed, she quickly glanced over him looking for a wound but found her eyes stopping on his left hand. Or more to the point, the small shard of ice he was currently spinning in it. She looked in confusion, trying to form some sort of response but to no avail.

Sutherland held up his other hand to silence her before she could say anything. "I'm intrigued," he said keeping his eyes closed and just barely countering his laughter "is your concern because you thought you'd killed me or because you thought you'd never see the money I owe you from my tab?" He continued giggling manically, rolling in the snow. "Although, being serious for a moment, if you want to kill me," he tossed the small piece of ice; lightly bouncing it comically off of Huan's rapidly twitching nose, "you will have to make much more of an effort than that." He got up an offered his hand out to the still kneeling rabbit. Her breathing was slow and she seemed to be shaking slightly, her head hung low making it impossible to gauge anything from her face, although it appeared that his hand had gone unnoticed as he took a few steps closer toward her hoping to enter her view.

"You...!" Huan snarled, as she grabbed his arm dragging him back down into the snow with a strength that betrayed her size. "Don't you ever think about doing something like that again!"

"Worry not; I will be extra careful where I decide to take a walk in the future..."

"No, idiot, sneaking up on me like that! I could have really badly hurt you! _Killed_ you, even!"

"And yet I'm still here, largely unscathed." Sutherland replied frankly, attempting to motion to himself but to no avail, thanks largely to the rabbit which was pinning him to the ground. "Although, I must say, your accuracy is impeccable, luckily, despite my canine appearance, I have cat-like reflexes." Huan showed her displeasure at this response by launching a barrage of gentle, but not _too_ gentle, punches into Sutherland's ribcage.

"You... Stupid... Puppy!" an angry and upset although altogether exasperated Huan growled through gritted teeth.

Sutherland, for his part remain quiet, letting the rabbit vent her frustration mercilessly on his ribs, the punches rapidly losing their weight before ceasing altogether. "Had enough?" He questioned tentatively, gaining only a tired growl in response. "All right, killer," he continued, trying to sound cheery as he strained with exertion as he mustered all his strength to push up from the ground with the sulking bunny still clinging to his chest. "Let's get you home." He patted her head gently, hoping that it would somehow coax her out of the vice like grip she currently held him in. She slid off him, defeated, and began quickly walking back in the direction of the tavern, not turning back. Sutherland hurried after her sheepishly, falling into pace beside her.

Huan walked with her head low, appearing to have had much more of a scare than Sutherland had originally presumed, worrying he had perhaps pushed her ever so slightly too far with his teasing. "The army look is good for you, if you don't mind me saying." Sutherland said tentatively, in an attempt to lift his companion's spirits, giving her a small nudge with his shoulder.

"Really? How so?" Huan replied quietly, although lifting her head slightly.

Sutherland realised his mistake all too late, he'd just been trapped in an infernal conundrum. This was going to take all his charm... And back peddling, lots of back peddling. "Not that I would dare to suggest that you don't always look beautiful… it's just, you appear more... Comfortable? If that makes sense?"

"It doesn't."

Sutherland cleared his throat, slightly irritated, "What I mean is, while your dress looks good, it always seems like _you're_ trying to fit into _it_ , whereas dressed like that, _it_ fits into _you_."

"That's just... Incredibly dumb sounding..."

"I know." Sutherland conceded. "But do you a least get what I'm _trying_ to say..."

Huan sucked in a large breath through her teeth. "No idea, although I've been called many things over the years, but you'll be shocked to hear that 'beautiful' wasn't one of them. So what I'm trying to say is… just keep it simple, fox."

Sutherland stopped suddenly, surprised look on his face, "Truthfully? No one has ever said that about you?" he queried with a raised eyebrow.

"Nope, I doubt anyone has ever been as mad as you."

"Mad; I may be." He agreed with a small nod. "But you can't say I don't have fantastic taste!" he finished motioning to his immaculate outfit.

Huan, shaking her head while a smile slowly crept across her face, turned to face him, seeing he had a large, smug grin spread across his own face, she looked deeply into his light grey eyes as they threatened to display something that could be classed as an emotion, an idea which he simply couldn't stand for, searching quickly for any way to doge the current moment.

"An intriguing peak, that one, is it not?" Sutherland said, pointing vaguely in the direction of Storm Peak.

Huan snapped back to reality, his question taking some time to register, "It is, I've never heard of anyone making it to the top in all my years of living up here."

"Quite the meteorological mystery isn't... Wait, why would somebody want to climb that death trap?"

Huan shrugged at his question, "The fame, maybe? To say that they were the first to do it? There are also rumours of hidden treasures at its peak..."

"I have a saying, Huan, 'Some places are better left untouched, and some secrets better left alone, only fools do brazenly roam.'"

"Interesting words to live by..."

This time it was Sutherland who shrugged, smiling however, "It hasn't led me astray thus far."

Upon returning to the chilled interior of the tavern it seemed positively tropical given the rapidly falling outside temperatures. Sutherland took his seat at the bar, announced as 'his' by the cane which was currently propped against it, as Huan moved round behind the bar, a sudden question entered her mind.

"What's the point in having that thing if you don't need it?" she asked, motioning her head towards it.

Sutherland turned to face her with a questioning arching of his brow, before he caught on, "Oh, you mean the cane? I thought it looked good, would give me a bit of eloquence perhaps?"

"It doesn't." She giggled.

"Duly noted." He shot back, with about as much sincerity as you would imagine.

"Where did you get it anyway? Looks pretty old."

"The minute I know the answer to that one, I can assure you, you will be the first to know."

Huan nodded in agreement, disguising the fact that she wasn't really satisfied by his answer and she soon found the words of the goat from earlier slithering back into her mind. She reached around to the bar behind her, grabbing another liquor bottle pre-emptively, as she knew Sutherland was mere moments away from asking for one. However, instead of offering it straight away, she slammed it into the bar with a heavy " _thud_ " dragging Sutherland from his distant state. After looking around for a moment as if to get his bearings, he said, "Thank you, sorry, I was miles away there."

"I was talking with an associate of yours earlier." Huan began bluntly.

"Oh, pleasant conversation was it?"

"I guess you could say that..."

"I wouldn't, there is no such thing as a pleasant conversation with _her_ , only the mask of one."

"I've never seen you act like this with anyone else, what did she do to you Sutherland?"

"My my, she didn't tell you?" Sutherland faked a laugh, narrowing his eyes as he did so.

"She only told me I didn't know the first thing about you, and I'm inclined to agree with her." Huan said narrowing her eyes to match that of the fox's.

"Another couple of bottles of that stuff," he responded, pointing to the alcohol in her paw. "And I'd be inclined to tell you anything you like." He smiled impishly.

"Stop being foolish!" Huan replied sternly.

"Not being foolish, just stating a fact." Sutherland swiftly retorted, his countenance once again hardening.

"Why are you so reluctant to talk about yourself?" she asked bluntly.

"It is a very uninteresting story." He said flatly, a small smile then tugged at his mouth. "Although conversely, if you're so eager to talk about the past why not regale me with one of your army exploits?"

"That's what I liked about you from the start." Huan said, leaning on the bar with a slight smile crossing her face.

"I'm evasive?" Sutherland responded, genuinely puzzled.

"No, idiot!" she laughed, before a small sigh, "You asked about me. Who I was, where I came from, you'd be surprised at how few people care."

"Trust me, I wouldn't..." Sutherland exasperatedly replied, taking a large swig from the bottle, both he and Huan unsure as to whether the comment was sarcastic or a sincere statement.

"Well I care." Huan tried to meet his gaze. "So why don't you just tell me?"

"Shan't." he replied simply.

"Oh, come on! It can't be _that_ bad, you have no idea the things I've heard working here!"

"Just drop it… please?"

"You've been here for weeks, why can't you just tell me?"

"I said… drop it."

"But what's so bad that…"

Sutherland stood up quickly, grabbed his cane and walked off towards the stairs, leaving a stunned Huan, gazing in his wake; she was only snapped out of her daze when she heard the door to his room slam.

She immediately felt terrible but knew it was useless to try and reason with him right now, she'd encountered his moods previously, although none of this magnitude. He usually calmed down after about an hour or two, she just needed to give him some time, she thought, cursing herself for ever being taken in by that stupid goat's words.

Huan took a deep breath before giving a few light knocks to Sutherland's door. The door opened sooner than she had anticipated, although it opened only slightly greater than a crack, permitting Sutherland to squeeze his head through and no more. A scowl was plastered across his face, but his eyes were red and puffy, perhaps the small fox was not as unfeeling and uncaring as the rabbit had allowed herself to believe. She began to try to say something but was silenced instantly by a wave of his paw. "You have four words, rabbit, I suggest you chose them wisely." he challenged through gritted teeth.

"Sutherland, I'm really sorry…" she began, sounding sincere although looking at the floor.

"Hmm," he pretended to ponder on it for a moment. "I was looking for 'It's on the house' but I think I can work with that." He opened the door fully. "Come in, I've got something to show you."

Huan's eyes widened as she saw the state of the room, a smattering of various items of cutlery lay strewn about the place, various coloured vials lined shelves and there was strange setup of a small jar of clear bubbling liquid, the vapour from which was running through a jar of snow causing a small volume of liquid to drip into another vial.

"Not much of it is explosive, I can assure you." Sutherland stated plainly, as if it was something he said every day.

Huan, not fully taking in what he had just said, simply nodded in response.

"You asked earlier where I got my cane," Sutherland began as Huan turned her full attention back to him. "As you've probably gathered, I spent some time at the temple, four years if we're going to be precise. I'll tell you now that it was a horrendous experience and I'm not going to go into detail about it, because that's not the point of this story. That cane was the first thing I got when I left that terrible place, I spotted it in a market stall as I was leaving the town, not having a particularly large amount of capital at the time, the merchant gave me an exceptional deal on it. I don't remember anything about him other than he was a tortoise and a particularly wistful voice. But now to the most important part, the reason I remembered, he also gave me this."

He handed her a small glass orb which held some similarities to an eyeball, however the white of the eye was instead made of a clear glass and the iris appeared to be made from some sort of light grey metal and the pupil was a black stone of some description.

"What is this, Sutherland? A glass eye?"

"I thought that too, for a while, but the craftsmanship made me think otherwise. There's a seam along the glass although only a very light one, but it looks more as though it's been worn with age than filed for aesthetic purpose, i.e. it's been handled a lot."

"So what is it?"

"I have absolutely no idea. The tortoise gave me some advice with it though 'looking at the world through a different eye can remind us that many things can change with a different perspective' although I may be paraphrasing, he probably said it with more eloquence and whimsy than I could muster."

"Well having heard of two people in your life, I now get where you're vagueness comes from."

Sutherland gave a sad laugh, "I haven't even shown you the best part yet." He handed her a small book bound in a cloth cover. She opened the first page which held only the name 'Alexander Stuart Crawford Sutherland' flipping through a few more pages she found it held a large number of alchemical formulae, recipes and notes. She looked back to him unsure as to what she should make of the item.

"Behold my entire history!" he said not even bothering to hide his lack of enthusiasm.

"What do you mean?"

"That's it; you're entirely caught up with everything I know."

"But… it's just your name in here?"

Sutherland gave a nod, "I wasn't taken in by the temple when I was young, I was taken in six years ago after I was found near a village, near death with no idea who I was or where I'd come from. That book was all I possessed other than my clothes…" he trailed off and piercing silence hung over the room for a moment.

"So you don't like talking about your past…"

"Because I don't remember having one." Sutherland finished sadly.

 **Author Note: Really enjoyed writing this chapter actually, not sure if it's any fun to read whatsoever, but, hey, at least I'm having fun. Also big thanks, as always, to everyone who's been so kind to leave reviews (you know who you are), it's hugely appreciated and really helps me get motivated. On that subject, the next chapter may be a bit late due to exams so please bear with me.** **Also, remember a couple of chapters ago when I said I'd reached 1,000 views and I made the joke that I'd maybe be 1,005 in a few months, well I'm pleased to inform you that there are now over 2,000 views on this story which is just smashing! Thanks everyone!** **But, I digress, feel free to tell me if you loved or hated this chapter, looking forward to hearing from you! And if you really feel like it you could always drop me a favourite or a follow.**

 **Anyway, I certainly hope to be seeing you (hopefully) soon in the next chapter! ;)**


	8. Back in the Saddle

**Author Note: I feel the title of this chapter has more than one meaning… Not that I'm insinuating I've not been busy this whole time, because I have been… just busy procrastinating… but anyway, enjoy!**

In a Burning Heart: Chapter VIII, Back in the Saddle

Standing atop one if the palace's watchtowers, Po took in what he hoped would be the final view of the city, it's once marvellous scenery somehow dampened by this point. The quaint smaller houses around the city which had been so elegantly lit when he had arrived now stood in sombre darkness creating a large black moat around the perimeter walls. Streets in the more metropolitan area of town which had formerly been brimming with animals were now deserted with the exception of only a few of the more daring, those of which hurried through the streets keeping their heads low and their steps swift. The decadent splendour of the mayoral palace had also been marred by the previous events, the once ornate columns and large, inviting halls now felt large, cold and cavernous, giving the building a somewhat sinister aura; no longer was it a glowing beacon for justice and freedom it had morphed into a dark, stone fortress ready to counteract any resistance with an iron fist. Even the light covering of snow which had appeared so dazzling upon their arrival had now been transformed into a pale grey slush.

He appeared to have contracted Tigress' distaste of staying in any place for too long, with the exception of the Jade Palace of course. Although, in truth, Po rather enjoyed travelling to see other parts of China, it was one of the many perks of being the Dragon Warrior, visiting far off towns and villages, facing new challenges, meeting new people and sampling various kinds of local foods. Despite this, however, whether it be due to the distance they had come or the general "less-than-awesome" vibes he was getting from the city, he did find himself missing home and his father and even, perhaps to some small extent, Master Shifu. Po smiled to himself briefly, realising how much the grouchy red panda had become a part of his life and at how much more open, perhaps borderline friendly, the elder master had become and often felt lost without his greater wisdom, withering glares and exasperated sighs for guidance.

Heavy, quick footsteps and even heavier, quicker breathing quickly pulled Po from his thoughts, the door to the stairwell behind him being haphazardly thrown open before a young goat dressed in guardsman attire entered. The goat bent over, head low with his hoofs planted firmly on his knees in an attempt to steady his breathing, appearing to be completely oblivious to Po's presence. In an bid to remedy this, Po loudly cleared his throat, causing the small goat to freeze instantly, his previously loud breaths suddenly ceasing altogether before he slowly raised his eyes to meet Po's, jumping back as their eyes met, as if he'd received an electric shock from the panda's gaze. The guardsman took a few more moments of disbelieving staring in silence before Po decided to break the silence.

"Umm... Hi?" He began hesitantly.

The goat snapped back into focus with a small shake of his head. "Sorry, wow, it's actually you, the Dragon Warrior!"

"Sure is, but call me P..."

"I can't believe it, I thought the guys were just kidding when they sent me to find you, that they really just wanted me out of the way! But here you are!"

"Yup, here I am." Po replied trying, in vein, to match the young guardsman's excited tone. "Was there something you n…"

"Did you really defeat the evil Tai Lung using the legendary Wuxi Finger Hold?"

"It is sorta true but…"

"Is the hardest part really cleaning up afterwards?" the goat continued with wide eyes.

"Well… yes!"

"And what about when you took out Shen's entire fleet? Did you really catch cannonballs in your hands? Can anyone do that?"

"I think so, but it requires a lot of training and patience to master inner peace, sometimes it can take years of meditation."

"Wow, that's awesome! Being a guard is cool and all, but I really want to be like you! Travelling the land, fighting bad guys, being a hero and winning the hearts of fair maidens, your life is so amazing!" The last statement seemed to not really be directed at Po as the young guardsman stared blankly into nothing as his eyes seemed to glaze over.

Growing rather fatigued by the young goat's attitude and vacantness, Po loudly cleared his throat, hoping that he would finally be able to ask his question without being interrupted, before asking, "Was there something that you needed me for, sir?"

"Oh" the goat snapped back into reality with an almost audible sound. "Of course, sorry, I got a bit carried away there." He continued as he reached into a small satchel he wore around his shoulder and produced a scroll, offering it to Po, "Message for you Dragon Warrior, I was told it was for your eyes only, exciting right?"

Po grunted in response as he took the small scroll and began to unfurl it, until he became aware of the guard's presence still looming behind him. "Is that all, guardsman?" Po said, just managing to keep the irritation from his voice.

"It is indeed, Dragon Warrior!" he replied happily, clearly not getting the implied message.

"Well then thank you, sir," Po said, giving his best attempt at a salute. "Dismissed!"

The goat grinned widely and gave a long deep bow, "Dragon Warrior" he responded respectfully before swiftly turning and almost skipping off with glee.

Po returned his attention to the scroll in his hands, now unrolling it fully he gave it a quick glace over, the hand it was written in seemed scrawled and unsteady, but just about legible. After giving a final listen to make sure the guard was out of earshot, he began reading.

 _Dear Po,_

 _Hi! I bet you're as surprised to be reviving this as I was at getting the chance to write it, I thought those guards would never let me out if those chains, but I pulled the old 'I have some very important information for the Dragon Warrior's eyes only' trick and they were all too happy to oblige. Nuo says 'hi' as well by the way, well not literally, she's just staring at me right now with her usual scornful look but I'm sure she'd be saying 'hi' if you were here, she likes you, you know, and as you might have guessed there's not many people I can say that to. But enough about my boring sister, how are things one your end, it's been what? A mere 3 days, 2 hours, 26 minutes and 56 seconds since you last came to visit us, keeping me waiting for that long Po, a girl could get the wrong kind of message! How am I doing? Well it's nice of you to think of me Dragon Warrior, but I guess I can't complain, the swelling has gone down a bit, granted I'm not back to my ravishing self, but my binocular vision seems to have returned, so I got that going for me, which is nice!_

 _Sorry, I kind of knew this would happen to be honest; it always does whenever I try to write letters, just everything in my head starts pouring forth, going off on weird tangents every other line, so... Focused... Since you came to talk with us I've done some thinking, by which I mean I've looked at our prospects of escaping and I'll level with you, they're not good. So, in light of this, if I'm not getting out of this, I don't want the morons who put us up to this to get out of it either. I've even talked with Nuo about it and she agrees with me, although between you and me, I'm not really using the word 'agree' it's most literal sense here, more of a kind of metaphorical agreement as I'm not entirely sure she was fully listening and I think she would have said anything to get me to shut up at that point but, hey, a wins a win and I know she's always one hundred percent on board with all my plans anyway so it's not really important. Also, understand at this point, I'm not doing this for any 'last redemption' kind of nonsense this is just pure petty revenge, only wish I could be there to see them myself, maybe cut off a few fingers, but I'm getting side tracked again._

 _I'll level with you, Dragon Warrior, I didn't really get a good look at the guy, I was… eating at the time, but fortunately I happen to know someone who did. Unfortunately, Nuo would never just straight up tell me, and I was forced to exploit her super-secret greatest weakness, which is, if you couldn't tell, her pride. Knowing that piece of arcane knowledge made the whole thing as simple as taking dumplings from a kitten, all I had to do was tell her that I remembered more about the guy than she did and she instantly set out to prove me, quite correctly, wrong. I wouldn't have been surprised if she could have told you the colour of each hair at each follicle, say what you want about her but she has a good eye for detail, but again I'm going off topic. So without further ado, the animal you're looking for is a male lynx, oddly large for his species, and tan in colour. I can't say for certain but it's likely he'll be wearing an orange tunic, various marks and dried blood present on it makes Nuo think that it's the only one he owns. He also appears to carry with him a large number of explosives, so an investigation of any caches of gunpowder could possibly aid your investigation. Furthermore, he had an odd accent as well, even we couldn't place it and we have been around a lot and by that I assure you I mean geographically. I'm sorry that I, by which I mean my sister, can't give you information on the guy, but if you find him I'm sure you'll find out who's behind this whole thing, something I'd very much like to know myself._

 _Good luck and see you around, N. Wong._

Po finished reading and re-rolled the scroll before sliding it back into its holder and took a moment to ponder the contents of the message, the figure mentioned certainly didn't ring any bells, Po was unsure if he had ever encountered any lynx, never mind any like the one mentioned. Although the gunpowder stores did seem to be a good place to start looking, as it had become a much more heavily guarded commodity since Shen had been defeated. His ears suddenly perked up as he heard footsteps on the stairs behind him, fearing it was the young goat returning, he looked around desperately for a place to hide, until he heard two voices, talking and laughing loudly. That, combined with the two pairs of footsteps identified them to be Mantis and Monkey, although Po still contemplated hiding, however, as if on cue, the door to the watchtower burst open revealing the laughing pair.

"There you are!" Mantis said triumphantly from Monkey's shoulder. "What are doing up here?"

Po shrugged, "Just enjoying the view." He gave the pair a quick look over, "What happened to you?"

"We bumped into your number one fan on the way over here." Monkey said, appearing still shaken from the experience.

"Yeah" Mantis added, "We thought we'd better hurry to find you in case he'd knocked you out and stole a lock of your fur or a scrap of fabric from your shorts..."

"Or a sample of something worse!" Monkey added with a sly grin, rousing a chuckle from Mantis.

"Don't worry guys, still in one piece!" Po replied with a casual wave of his hand.

"What was he up to anyway?" Mantis questioned.

"Had a message for me, you'll never guess who it was from!" Po answered with a sly smile.

"The Wong sister." Mantis said flatly.

"The crazy one." Monkey clarified.

"How did you guys know?"

"We'd heard that she had a bit of a thing for you…" Monkey began hesitantly.

"Well, a lot more than _a bit_ if what we've heard is true…" continued Mantis.

"It isn't!" Po said quickly.

"An incredibly strange pair, those sisters" Mantis mused, "One seems to adore you while the other can't stand you."

"Now that I agree with, I'm pretty sure she gave me a thinly veiled threat last I saw her." Po replied, thinking back to his last meeting with Nuo Wong.

"Maybe she's more the 'hard to get' type?" Monkey suggested, sounding oddly sincere.

"Yeah," Mantis nodded in agreement, "I got that vibe when she was literally swinging around from the ceiling!"

The trio broke out into uproarious laughter at that comment. A few silent moments followed as the laughter died down before Monkey continued with, "You've got a strange relationship with women, Po, I'll give you that!"

"What do you mean by that?" Po shot back instantly, instantly bashful for some reason.

"I think what Master Monkey is trying to say is" Mantis interjected, "that you certainly have a defined 'type' you know, strong, scary… perhaps even a little bit borderline psychotic."

"Pfft, yeah, guys good one!" Po said dismissively.

"Monkey, am I wrong?" Mantis questioned, casting a sideways look a Monkey.

"No, I think it's fair to say you're two for two on that one!" Monkey replied with a laugh, causing Mantis to join in.

Po sat in silent contemplation for a few moments before replying, "Who's the other one?" Mantis and Monkey were silent instantly, each slowly turned to the other and they shared an uneasy look before returning their joint gaze back to Po, although neither gave a response. "You said two for two, who's the other one?" Po pressed.

"Yeah Monkey, who is the other one?" Mantis echoed, earning him a murderous glare from his teammate.

"Remember when we had that mission to deal with those scorpion bandits two months ago; I'm pretty sure the female one was giving you the eye!" Monkey said quickly, with perhaps too much conviction.

"Which one?" Po questioned, raising his eyebrow.

"There was only one female, Po, don't you remember?"

"I didn't mean that, I meant which eye? She had six of them."

The pair remained frozen for a few moments, not quite sure what to make of the question, praying that it wouldn't go any further than it had, but both let out huge sighs of relief as Po threw back his head in laughter.

"You guys! You almost had me going for a minute there!"

"Yeah…" Mantis replied with little persuasion, "We totally… had you going…"

"Well, it's been fun, but I just remembered I have that _thing_ I need to do!" Monkey attempted to say nonchalantly.

"Oh yeah, I'll come give you a hand with it, sounds like a two man kind of _thing_." Mantis replied mirroring the simian's faux unfettered tone.

"I can give you hand as well" Po chimed in rising from the floor to join them.

"No! Er, I mean, there's no need, we've got this handled… but we should be heading off soon, you could go let the other guys know?" Mantis said quickly hopping onto Monkey's shoulder as they quickly fled the scene, not giving Po much choice in the matter. So, with that, Po too headed out into the sprawling palace grounds in search of the others.

The mayor, being too busy drawing battle plans against some unknown foe to see them off personally, had instructed a handful of guards to assist with packing the Five's belongings and equipping their travel packs with the best food available from the mayoral larder. Although the act was supposed to be a kind gesture, Po just couldn't shake the feeling that the mayor was somehow offhandedly throwing them out, but perhaps he was just misconstruing the situation and the mayor simply didn't want to feel like he was taking up too much of their time. Not that it was truly and issue, delivering justice was often a lengthy process, in Po's experience, however, his earlier thoughts of Master Shifu did come back to his head, thoughts of the aging master being forced to teach the hordes of young students at the temple singlehandedly, caused a smile to spread widely across his face.

Arriving at the courtyard, Po observed three large rucksacks filled almost within bursting point with what he assumed was the Five's personal effects and what could only be an insane volume of food. He was initially perturbed by the size and coinciding weight of the bags, fearing that Tigress may struggle in her current state, but quickly banished such thoughts from his mind, she could handle it and if not, he was sure Crane, Mantis or Viper could pitch in with something to lighten the load. Moving further in, he was surprised to see only a single guardsman having an inaudible conversation with Master Crane, neither party looked particularly interested in what the other was saying, no doubt exchanging formalities to pass the time , as Po approached the pair bowed deeply to one another before the guardsman quickly scurried back inside.

"Hey Crane, how's it going? Have you seen Tigress this morning?"

"She's... around." Crane replied hesitantly.

"Around where?"

Crane sighed, "She's at the barracks, said something about a warm up" seeing an unamused look briefly cross Po's features, Crane quickly added, "but don't worry, Master Viper is with her."

"Oh, ok." Po said, somewhat nonchalantly.

"Wait, you're not angry? Concerned, even?" Crane relied, sceptic of the panda's relaxed attitude.

Po shrugged, "I am, but, hey, it's Tigress, what should I expect?"

"I suppose..." Crane said with small chuckle.

"I swear the best way to get her to do something is to tell her not to!" Po joked, joining in laughing with Crane.

"I wouldn't let her hear you say that though!" the avian cautioned, risking a paranoid look over his shoulder.

"So everything is ready to go then?" Po questioned motioning towards the rucksacks which in front of the pair.

"It is indeed, the guards have seen to pretty much everything, not that they seemed particularly pleased about it though. Though there is a lot of food in those bags, I'm glad I don't have to lug them around!"

"Cool, so all I have to do is gather up the other masters then we can head out?"

"Shouldn't be too hard," Crane agreed before adding, "Have you seen Mantis or Monkey this morning?"

"Yeah, just a couple of minutes ago, they were… they're… I have no idea where they are now though…"

Crane sighed, spreading his wings, "I'll go find them, and you go get Tigress and Viper, get you back here in five?"

"Sure thing, catch you later Crane!"

Nearing the barracks Po could hear sounds of sparring, a mix of grunts, breaths and an enormous number of painful yelps and the odd unsettling crunching noise. Upon turning into the small courtyard Po was entirely unsurprised at who was causing such a ruckus. Tigress stood at the centre of the area, surrounded on all sides by guards of various age and species, many of whom seemed to be out of breath or cradling some sort of injury, many more had their uniforms defaced by large streaks of gravel and dirt, as if they had recently fell, or been thrown to, the ground. In contrast Tigress seemed completely unfazed, turning slowly, she eyed each of her opponents readily as if willing them to attack, her form no longer showed signs of injury, or if they did she seemed not to let it bother her, and was otherwise healthy save only the small length of bandage which still covered her arm.

One of the guards, a wolf, probably towards the younger end of the scale if his zeal was anything to go by, thought he had an opening as Tigress's back was turned. Swiftly lunging forward, paw raised in hopes of striking her before she had any chance of response. Nearing his target he closed his eyes as he swung his fist with all his might, before feeling it collide with something that felt too hard to be any kind of organic matter, slowly opening his eyes he realised that his fist had landed squarely in the centre of Tigress's palm. He gulped, realising what was coming next, Tigress tightened her grip on his forearm, twisting it quickly she threw him through the air as if he were a bag of feathers, before he landed hard on the ground across the courtyard, narrowly missing a small green snake who had been quietly watching.

Upon seeing his friend Po quickly made his way over, "Hey Viper, how're you doing?"

"Morning Po, guess I can't complain."

"Glad to hear it." Po replied with a smile. "Enjoying the show?"

"Quite impressive!" Viper giggled before her features turned hard, "Actually, I was hoping to talk to you about Tigress..."

"Yeah, she's looking much better! And it's nice of her to help out training the recruits." Po laughed motion towards the currently battling tiger.

"Po, those aren't recruits, they're allegedly the best they have."

"Well then that's even more awesome!" Po nearly squealed in his excitement.

"I still worry about her, but I know she would hate to hear me say that and that's partly the reason why I'm worried..." Viper let out a long, exasperated sigh, "I wish she'd realise that she doesn't need to take everyone else's burdens upon herself, she's not as tough as she thinks she is... And that's not an insult, it's just..."

As if to spite Viper's point, Tigress sent a brutal kick into the chest of one of the guardsman causing him to land with a spray of dirt on the ground just in front of Po and Viper.

"Yeah, I really see what you mean" Po replied sarcastically.

"Oh, really?" Viper shot back instantly, "I seem to remember you relentlessly doting by her bedside these past three days, if I'm not mistaken?"

"I was just checking up on her, I'd hardly call it 'doting!'"

"Sure..." Viper replied greatly drawing out the word. "You can lie to yourself all you like, but you can't hide anything from me!"

"What do you mean by that?" Po mumbled, turning to the side in hopes of hiding the slight blush that was starting to form.

"C'mon Po, even you can't be this oblivious!"

Thankfully, it was once again Tigress that came to his aid, although unbeknown by her, as she sent yet another guardsman flying, resulting in him crashing loudly through a weapons rack before she turned back to her other opponents swiftly talking two to the ground and disarming another with a rising kick.

"Anyway, what does any of this have to do with Tigress and why are you telling this to me, and not any of the others?" The panda asked with pleading undertones of leading the subject away from the delicate area.

"Because, Po, I think you're a good influence on her."

"Nah, I can't take credit, I think it's all you're work. You guys are the Furious Five! You're like family, and I'm at tops the really distant, but cool, dopey cousin."

Viper let out a small giggle, "I'm not going to argue that we're close but it's nothing like a family, we're comrades definitely, we trust each other with our lives, but it's... Professional, if that makes sense?"

"Errr… Sure?"

"I'm saying that we're close but we still look at each other as warriors, you however, less so. You're the most likely to be able to reach her soft side."

"Oh…" Po said, indicating he may finally be reaching some kind of understanding before instantly following up with, "Wait, you're trying to tell me that Tigress has a soft side?"

Viper simply responded by making a guttural noise somewhere between a sigh and a snarl, shooting a burning stare at the giant panda.

"Okay, sorry, continue." Po apologised quickly.

"Her whole life she's been treated like some kind if ferocious predator, like she poses a danger to everyone just because of what she is; there's only a select few that didn't, Shifu, for instance, recognised that, if disciplined, she could use her great natural strength to her advantage, he was cold though, fearing growing too close to another of his students. And then there's you; you show up at the Jade Palace out of nowhere and take what she thought was her rightful title, with no training and no skill and at that point she's just about ready to rip your head off and what do you do? You say she's 'awesome' and 'cool' and... And... What's that other thing you say?"

"It's usually just those two, or sometimes a mixture of both." The panda answered nodding thoughtfully.

"Okay, sure, but what I'm really trying to get at here is that I don't think she's ever met anyone like you. Someone, that looks at her and sees not only her strength but the skill she exerts to control it, you know all the stories about her, even experienced a few yourself, and every time you tell one to anyone I've noticed you embellish her part a little more, everything she does gets a little more impressive, a little more heroic. She's always had raw physical strength to spare, but what she needs now is strength within herself, and I think you're just the one to help her with that, with your gentle, kind nature and your goofy little compliments!"

"I wouldn't say that, have you seen her when I say that stuff? It's like I've just arrived back at the palace again but she seems even more willing to rip my head off!"

"Please Po, there's no one alive who doesn't like to hear themselves be called 'awesome' or 'cool' or whatever other words your ludicrous vocabulary extends to. I hardly doubt she'd ever straight out tell you, but I think your silly little complements really mean the word to her, helps to know that someone out there appreciates for more than being a dangerous weapon."

"So what you're basically trying to tell me is that I should keep being Tigress's friend? Thanks Viper, I think I can about manage that!" Po said with a laugh.

"No, not entirely" Viper replied with a smug smile, "But I don't think you entirely want to be _friends_ with Tigress…"

"Again with this, Viper? Why can't you…"

"What are the pair of you talking about in hushed whispers?" a stern toned voice demanded from beside them.

Both turned slowly to see that Tigress had ceased training and had quietly made her way over to the pair, both seemed to be taking such time and concentration to reach this conclusion that neither spoke, either out of confusion or fear.

"I usually wouldn't pry but I heard my name mentioned" Tigress insisted.

"I was just… We were…" Po fumbled his words, casting a few sideways glances to Viper, praying she would save him.

"The Dragon Warrior," Viper began confidently, "was simply wondering when you would be ready to leave. I told him you were just finishing your warm up, but he insisted you not push yourself."

Tigress narrowed her eyes slightly looking at Po, "I assure you _Dragon Warrior_ I am more than able to whip a few guards into shape, but your concern is touching" Tigress said with little sincerity. "I assume the others are waiting in the front courtyard, hence your desire to leave so quickly?"

"Um… Yeah." Po replied sheepishly.

"Well then, I'm ready when you are." She replied curtly, before heading off in that direction.

Po and Viper quickly fell in pace behind her, the panda shooting the snake a 'what was that?' look, the snake looked at him with an innocent, wide eyed stare. "Dragon Warrior?" Po mouthed, Viper simply shrugged, an action that was harder than it sounded due to the fact she lacked shoulders, to show that her excuse was of little consequence as Tigress didn't suspect anything, however was perhaps ever so slightly aggravated by the panda, well nothing new there then, Viper smiled to herself.

Po quickly lost his miffed stare as he realised he was falling behind the tiger's swift stride, and hurried to catch up with his friend as she made her way to reunite with others and finally finish leaving preparations.

 **Author Note: This chapter might be a little shorter but how many other Kung Fu Panda fanfictions have you read today that have a reference "Caddyshack" that hit film from 1980? Wait, what do you mean you've never heard of it? Ah well, I was never expecting anyone to pick up on my dystopian references anyway, so I guess this chapter is a bit more dialogue heavy compared to most, how do you guys feel about that? Shoot me a review or send me a PM with your thoughts (Please, I crave human approval!). Also, remember those exams I was talking about last chapter? Well, turns out I passed them, with distinction no less, which means no resists and that I'm a colossal nerd, which is good… I think.**

 **As always thanks to everyone who was kind enough to review the last chapter, smashing work! Feel free to do the same again, or if you're new to the story, first, congrats for making it this far and second, any faves/follows would be greatly appreciated!**

 **I'll be seeing you beautiful people next chapter! ;)**


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